The Honduras migrants taking the 'train of death' to the US

The Honduras migrants taking the 'train of death' to the US
12/06/2015 / AMERICAS

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Amiredis president José Luís Hernandez Cruz standing at the back of one of Mexico's 'trains of death'. Photo courtesy of Pedro Ultreras.
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Some call it 'the train of death', others 'the beast'. Every year, migrants seriously injure themselves after falling from freight trains that they ride through Mexico in pursuit of the American dream. Fearing that other migrants might suffer the same nightmarish fate, victims left mutilated by 'the beast' have rallied together to raise awareness of their plight.

In 2008, a group of Hondurans created the Association of Returned Migrants with Disabilities (Amiredis). It brings together migrants that were forced to go back to Honduras after they fell from trains, suffering horrific injuries that left them without an arm or leg. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people attempt the perilous journey aboard these freight trains that snake through Mexico in the hope of reaching the United States.


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Some of the members of Amiredis. Photo sent by José Luís Hernandez Cruz.
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José Luís Hernandez Cruz, 28, is the president of Amiredis.

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"I fell from the train after I had passed out, because I hadn't eaten for several days"
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"Like many young people, when I was 18 years old I left Honduras to try to find work in the United States. After crossing Guatemala, I arrived in Mexico. That's when the nightmare began. I was attacked and the little money I had was stolen from me. So I resigned myself to taking the train, because it's the cheapest mode of transport. I climbed aboard ten trains in all. I fell from one of the wagons after I had passed out, because I hadn't eaten or slept for several days. I lost my right leg, my right arm and three fingers of my left hand.

I fell from the train near the city of Delicias, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. I was lucky - at the time a man was passing through the area saw me fall and he helped me. He called an ambulance that arrived a few minutes later. Without him, I would've certainly bled to death, like many migrants do."

More:
http://observers.france24.com/content/20150612-honduras-migrants-mutilated-train-obama