Mexico finds 81 Central Americans stashed in truck

MONTERREY, Mexico, July 12 (Reuters) Troops in northern Mexico discovered 81 Central Americans abandoned in a truck near the US border after two days in searing heat, darkness and no food or water, the government said today.

Mexican soldiers found the migrants, including women and children, squeezed together lying down in the truck near a military checkpoint on Wednesday outside the small town of Hualahuises in Nuevo Leon state near the Texan border after hearing voices inside.

It was not clear why the truck had been abandoned.

Hidden under a fake floor covered with decorative plants, the migrants were left on the side of a freeway in 95-degree Fahrenheit (35-degrees Celsius) heat in the semi-desert countryside.

''They were lucky to be alive,'' said Frances Garcia, a spokeswoman for the Mexican immigration institute in Monterrey.

''There were women and children among them and they had been hidden inside for two days, relying only on a few energy drinks to round,'' she added.

The 65 Salvadorans, 14 Hondurans and two Guatemalans paid 3,600 dollar each to people smugglers to make the journey from the Guatemalan border to the United States, the institute said.

Mexico will repatriate the Central Americans over the next few days, Garcia said.

Millions of Mexicans and Central Americans try to slip into the United States every year to look for work, attracted by US wages at six to seven times those in their home countries.

Increased US border security has pushed immigrants to rely heavily on people smugglers and to try more innovative ways to get across, including hiding in car fuel tanks and dashboards.

REUTERS PDS BST0048