A bus carrying migrants catches fire in Panama

( Spanish) — In Panama, a total of 57 migrants were saved from the flames when the bus in which they were transported to the shelter in Gualaca, Chiriquí province, near the border with Costa Rica, caught fire this Saturday morning.

The information was confirmed by the director of the National Migration Service of PanamaSamira Gozaine, who assured that there were no injuries.

According to the Panama Fire Department, upon arrival at the fire, which broke out at 6:00 am local time in Los Ruices, Veraguas province, the passengers were already off the bus.

It is the second time in just over a week that there has been an accident related to the transport of migrants in the country. Last Wednesday, February 15, a bus that was transporting more than 60 people from the province of Darién to the same shelter, in Gualaca, Chiriquí, fell off a cliff, leaving about 40 migrants dead and more than 28 injured.

The immigration station in Gualaca is the last point where they must remain, before the Panamanian authorities allow them to continue on their way to the United States, after having entered the Darién jungle irregularly.