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Take Two

Train crash in Mexico highlights plight of Central American migrants

By Take Two Staff
Published Aug 27, 2013
In the vast migration that is changing the U.S., a Honduran boy rides a freight train through Mexico. Each year thousands of Central Americans stow away for 1,500 miles on the tops and sides of trains. Some are parents desperate to escape poverty. Many are children in search of a parent who left them behind long ago. Only the brave and the lucky reach their goal.
In the vast migration that is changing the U.S., a Honduran boy rides a freight train through Mexico. Each year thousands of Central Americans stow away for 1,500 miles on the tops and sides of trains. Some are parents desperate to escape poverty. Many are children in search of a parent who left them behind long ago. Only the brave and the lucky reach their goal.
(
Don Bartletti
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

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Train crash in Mexico highlights plight of Central American migrants

Over the weekend, a train derailed in Southern Mexico killing at least six people and injuring dozens more. The victims were migrants from Central America, many of them riding on the roof or between the cars of the cargo train, known as "The Beast."

Each year, hundreds of thousands of migrants make their way from Central America through Mexico this way, hoping to eventually make it into the U.S. It's a harrowing journey and train crashes like this are just one of many dangers they encounter along the way.

Reporter Sonia Nazario traced the journey of a young man who made this trip for a Pulitzer Prize-winning series for the LA Times, known as "Enrique's Journey."

She later published a book by the same name and an adaptation of that book for young people is being released today.