Migrants to rest after report of child abduction

TAPANATEPEC, Oct 28 (AP): Coordinators of a caravan of several thousand Central American migrants moving through southern Mexico urged its members to rest on Sunday.

At first the migrants vowed to press on anyway but later changed their minds amid reports that a child had been abducted.

The migrants said they would stay and hold a meeting Sunday in Tapanatepec. Late Saturday night, groups of migrants were running through the town's streets saying a migrant's child had been snatched. Something similar led to a panic at an earlier stop, but was not confirmed.

After being delayed for a couple hours when federal police halted their exit from the town of Arriaga Saturday morning, most of the migrants arrived in Tapanatepec in the searing heat.

Dozens headed down to the Novillero river below the central square to bathe, wash clothing and cool off. Others lined up at a medical aid station mostly for attention to their battered feet.

For the first time an arm of the federal government seemed to be directly helping the migrants advance rather than trying to diminish the caravan. In this case Grupo Beta, Mexico's migrant protection agency, gave rides to stragglers and passed out water.

At the caravan's regular evening meeting in the town square, its coordinators tried to force a little chivalry.

Many of the migrants have depended on hitchhiking to move between towns rather than walking the entire way. When trucks stop it's usually young men who sprint to reach them first. Women carrying children or pushing strollers are at a disadvantage.