A fire which broke out at a migrant processing center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has caused the deaths of at least 38 people.

The facility is located near the Stanton-Lerdo Bridge, which connects Mexico and the US, and the incident occurred shortly before 22:00 local time on Monday.

The incident occurred during a protest against deportations. Many of the victims were migrants who had travelled from Central and South America.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that the migrants had set mattresses on fire during their protest, causing the tragedy. According to reports, the migrants had been picked up by the authorities on Monday and taken to the centre. Twenty-nine people were also injured in the blaze.

The dead and injured included people from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia, and Ecuador. US Customs and Border Protection has expressed readiness to receive and treat the injured, who will be transported from Mexico to the US medical facilities via ambulance.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a thorough investigation and stated that he would continue to work with the authorities of countries where mixed movements of people occur to establish safer, more regulated, and organised migration pathways.

The US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, emphasised the importance of fixing a broken migration system and the risks of irregular migration. Title 42, which allows US border officials to deny individuals entry to the US to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, remains in place, but the Biden administration has expressed its intention to end the use of the policy.