Tragedy strikes as a fire at a migrant facility near the U.S. border in Mexico claims the lives of at least 40 individuals."

    Mexican authorities have confirmed that at least 40 people died in a fire that broke out at an immigration detention center in northern Mexico near the U.S. border. The blaze was reportedly started by migrants who set their mattresses ablaze in protest after learning that they would be deported.

    The incident, which occurred in Ciudad Juarez, a major crossing point for migrants, is one of the deadliest ever to happen in a Mexican immigration lockup. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed that the majority of those killed were from Guatemala, with others from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.

    Twenty-nine people were also injured and are in "delicate-serious" condition, according to the National Immigration Institute. At the time of the fire, 68 men from Central and South America were being held at the facility.

    Tensions had reportedly been high between authorities and migrants in recent weeks in Ciudad Juarez, where shelters are full of people waiting for opportunities to cross into the U.S. or who have requested asylum there and are waiting out the process. More than 30 migrant shelters and other advocacy organizations published an open letter on March 9 that complained of a criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers in the city, accusing authorities of abusing migrants and using excessive force in rounding them up.

    Felipe Gonzalez Morales, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights of migrants, said via Twitter that "the extensive use of immigration detention leads to tragedies like this one." As Mexico has stepped up efforts to stem migration to the U.S. border under pressure from the American government, the agency has struggled with overcrowding in its facilities, leading to protests and riots from time to time.

    Mexico has emerged as the world's third most popular destination for asylum-seekers, after the United States and Germany. However, it is still largely a country that migrants pass through on their way to the U.S. Tens of thousands are holed up in border cities with the U.S., including Ciudad Juarez.