In Pictures

Photos: Fire kills dozens at Mexico migrant centre near US border

Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for refugees and migrants entering the United States.

t least 39 migrants killed in fire in Mexico's Ciudad Juarez — Mexican authorities and firefighters remove injured people, mostly Venezuelans, from inside the National Migration Institute building. [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]

At least 39 people have died after a fire broke out at a migrant facility in the Mexican northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Hours after the fire broke out late on Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the facility, across from El Paso, Texas.

Ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue swarmed the scene.

At least 29 people were injured, according to an official from the National Immigration Institute, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ciudad Juarez is a major crossing point for people entering the United States. Its shelters are full of migrants and refugees waiting for opportunities to cross or who have requested asylum in the United States and are waiting out the process.

Mexico’s attorney general’s office has launched an inquiry and has investigators at the scene, according to media reports.

Ambulances arrive to the scene of the fire — Images from the scene showed ambulances, firefighters and vans from the morgue around the smoke-covered facility with rows of bodies lying under shimmery silver sheets. [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]