'The Chosen Ones' stars Raymundo Garduño Cruz and Juan Francisco González Aguilar have died.
The two actors passed away when the van they were travelling in crashed and flipped over in an accident on Thursday (16.06.22), which happened on a desert road near Mulege on the Baja California Sur peninsula, close to where filming was taking place on the Netflix series.
In addition, two other actors and four crew members were also injured, but they have not been named. They are said to be in a stable condition.
The programme - which is based on Mark Millar and Peter Gross' comic book series - was being filmed in nearby Santa Rosalia and the van was travelling from there to a local airport.
Production company Redrum have temporarily paused production on the series.
Union SAG-AFTRA are looking into the accident.
A spokesperson said in a statement: “SAG-AFTRA has been in contact with Netflix and with the Mexican actors union ANDA about this incident and we are investigating the circumstances with local production. On set safety is always our top priority. We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that our members and others are safe in their workplace.”
Raymundo's friend, actor and director Fernando Bonilla had earlier called for an investigation into his death.
He wrote on Twitter: "It is imperative that the production report how many hours of rest the driver who lost control of the truck had.
“I am devastated. Ray was an actor, director, and cultural manager who adopted Tijuana as his home. He was a festive and generous friend. Many film and television productions have drivers overexploited, causing these f******* tragedies. I just found out and I can’t believe it. I have a crushed heart.”
His comments were echoed by a friend of Francisco - who was also known as Paco Mufote - with Liliana Conlisk Gallegos slamming claims of alleged exploitation and abuse on set.
She told the Daily Beast: “Paco touched the hearts of everyone he ever met, he was a great actor with a strong trajectory.
“He loved acting and playing music more than anything in the world and he dedicated himself to it, many times suffering economic hardship. He sacrificed for his love of acting.
"It pains me to think he was taken advantage of, that he was being forced to work in subpar conditions, especially for a multimillionaire company like Netflix."
The show is about a 12-year-old boy who learns he is the returned Jesus Christ and is destined to save humankind.
