Authorities in Mexico found an abandoned truck carrying 103 unaccompanied minors, making it the biggest discovery of migrant children traveling through Mexico in recent times.

The minors were traveling without adult relatives and were part of a group of 343 migrants from Central and South America, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement on Monday.

Along with the migrant 103 children, authorities also found 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador in the trailer, the National Migration Institute (INM) said. Another 28 migrants were found traveling as families in the vehicle.

The migrants were found safe wearing color-coded bracelets that were apparently used for identifying them as smugglers' clients.

While the migrant children will be sent into custody of Veracruz's family services system, the adult migrants will undergo the process of determining their legal status in Mexico, INM said.

The trailer was found without a driver in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, the INM said. It was customized with an extra floor to fit more people and had fans and ventilation ports in the roof.

Migrants risk life in trucks

Many migrants who are able to enter the United States often ask smugglers to bring their children afterwards. Earlier this year, around 57 migrant children from Guatemala were found unaccompanied in a truck at a checkpoint near the US-Mexico border.

While trucks are widely used by smugglers to transport undocumented migrants to the US, it is a highly unsafe method.

Last year in June, more than 50 migrants were found dead in San Antonio, Texas, after the truck carrying them was abandoned in the scorching sun.

In December 2021, 56 migrants died when their truck overturned in southern Mexico.

mf/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)