A serious traffic accident that occurred in the state of Roraima, Brazil, claimed the lives of two Cubans who were trying to enter the country, while another seven were injured, authorities reported.
The tragic incident occurred on Monday afternoon in the municipality of Bonfim, during a police chase involving the car that was transporting nine Cuban immigrants heading to the town of Boa Vista, reported the Federal Highway Police (PRF) in a statement.
In the place two Cubans, aged 16 and 26, died, while seven were seriously injured, including two children aged three and eight; another person sustained minor injuries.
The authorities have not revealed the identities of the deceased or the injured in the accident. The digital newspaper elToque reported that the deceased are a woman and a teenager.
According to the Highway Police, during an inspection on BR 401 in Bonfim, agents detected a GM Prisma vehicle with 10 people on board, nine Cubans and one Brazilian, that was headed to Boa Vista.
Authorities indicated that Cubans were attempting to illegally enter Brazilian territory through the state of Roraima, located in the northern part of the country and bordering Guyana.
Upon noticing the presence of the agents, the driver of the car, of Brazilian nationality, made a U-turn and fled at full speed down the same road towards Bonfim.
During the police chase, the driver executed a series of dangerous maneuvers, such as illegal overtaking and driving on the shoulder, and then entered a dirt road, where he lost control of the vehicle.
The PRF patrol found the car overturned, with its wheels facing up, and two of the Cubans were already deceased. The other individuals were injured.
Emergency services personnel from SAMU (Mobile Emergency Care Service), the Fire Department, the Forensic Science Institute, and the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) arrived at the scene, taking charge of rescuing the injured and recovering the bodies of the deceased, according to the official report.
After the investigation of the fatal accident, the PRF accused the driver of the vehicle of "promoting by any means, with the aim of obtaining an economic benefit, the illegal entry of a foreigner into national territory or of a Brazilian into a foreign country; involuntary manslaughter while driving a motor vehicle; and aggravated negligence resulting in bodily injury while driving a motor vehicle."
The Highway Police forwarded the incident report to the Federal Police for the appropriate judicial proceedings to take place.
One of the occupants of the crashed vehicle reported to the PRF that each Cuban had paid 500 US dollars to enter Brazil illegally, from Guyana.
That migration route has been one of the most used by Cuban nationals during the massive migration exodus of the past five years, in which hundreds of thousands of Cubans have left the island in search of better life opportunities, due to the severe economic and social crisis the country is experiencing.
The number of Cubans seeking refuge in Brazil has significantly increased in 2025: 30,731 Cubans submitted asylum applications in that country from January to September of this year. The figure is alarming when compared to the total of 52,373 applications registered between 2010 and 2024, and it reflects the worsening crisis in Cuba and the tightening of living conditions under the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
After escaping the scarcity and lack of opportunities and freedoms on the island, Cuban emigrants face numerous dangers during irregular migratory journeys in different countries, where they risk their lives in illegal border crossings, human trafficking networks, and unsafe travel conditions that often result in fatal accidents.
In March of this year, three Cubans lost their lives, including a four-month-old baby, in a collision between two vehicles on a road in the Brazilian state of Amapá.
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