Six migrants have died after soldiers in Mexico opened fire on a vehicle carrying a group of 33 people who were travelling in the south of the country.

The Mexican defence ministry said another 10 migrants were injured in the incident on Tuesday evening some 25 miles (40km) north of the border with Guatemala.

The ministry said a military patrol saw the migrants’ pick-up vehicle travelling at high speed, which made an apparent attempt to avoid being stopped.

Soldiers reported hearing explosions after which two officers opened fire, the statement said, adding they have been removed from their duties while an investigation is carried out.

Mexico is under pressure from the US to crack down on the number of migrants making their way through the country to reach the American border.

A police report Into the incident in the southern Chiapas state said the soldiers chased the vehicle after it failed to stop at an army checkpoint before firing gunshots to try and stop it, Reuters news agency reported.

The driver turned off down a dirt road in an attempt to escape, it added, but lost control of the vehicle.

According to the defence ministry’s statement, the migrants came from Egypt, Nepal, Cuba, India and Pakistan. It did not give the nationalities of those who died.

Four died at the scene while two of the 12 people who were wounded died in hospital. The remaining 17 passengers were handed over to immigration authorities.

Officials said federal prosecutors had been informed and a military tribunal would also investigate.

The defence ministry said it was committed to “act in strict accordance with the rule of law, under a policy of zero-impunity, and ready to help the civil authorities to shed light on the facts”.

Thousands of migrants travel through Mexico each year in buses, overcrowded lorries and on freight trains as they try to get to the US-Mexican border.

They run the risk of fatal accidents, kidnapping by criminal groups and extortion by corrupt officials.

In December 2021, a people smugglers’ lorry overturned in Chiapas killing 56 mostly Central American migrants. (BBC, excluding headline)