JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – U.S. and Mexican troops resumed joint disaster-response training Thursday by tending to a mock train derailment and chemical spill in Downtown Juarez.
Soldiers could be seen rendering aid to individuals lying on the ground. Thick smoke rose next to parked tank cars on a rail line that cuts through the city and leads to a railroad bridge into El Paso, Texas.
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The scenario contemplated a chemical fire whose fumes overcame 30 passersby, said Mexican Army Maj. Jose Luis Cora Torres. First responders and Juarez Red Cross paramedics were quickly overwhelmed by the number of victims and the threat of fumes making sick or killing more people, as per the simulation.
“We proceeded to take over. We determined the fire to be intense, so we called for air support,” Cora said.
He explained that population centers on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border must utilize all available resources when faced with potential mass-casualty events. In this scenario, American troops and aircraft came across the border and helped. Should the emergency take place on the U.S. side of the border wall, Mexican troops would have availed themselves to assist.