By The newspaper
30 Jul 2024, 20:09 PM EDT
A group of women and children migrants from Venezuela were trying to cross illegally into the United States through Del Rio, Texas, when one of the minors became separated from the caravan after being swept away by strong currents in the Rio Grande. Her body was located and recovered by paramedics, Mexican authorities said.
A 9-year-old girl identified by her family as Hana Victoria of Venezuela died July 29 while trying to cross the Rio Grande into Texas, KENS-TV reported.
He drowned in the river
The Municipal Police of Ciudad Acuña, on the Mexican side, said that the group, made up mostly of women and children, were walking along the river when the little girl separated. They tried to reach her, but the current of water was so strong that it swept her away.
Although municipal police and Mexican Red Cross officials did not identify the minor, the same news outlet reported that the girl was identified by her aunt.
Authorities did not reveal whether the group of Venezuelan migrants were transferred to the corresponding immigration authorities.
The body was transferred to the coroner
A team of rescuers searched for the girl’s body in various areas of the Rio Grande until they located her and transferred her to the Semefo in Ciudad Acuña for an autopsy, the Municipal Police said.
KENS-TV news recalled that another minor died in a similar manner in early 2024, when authorities found the body of a migrant girl floating in the Rio Grande in Piedras Negras, near Eagle Pass, Texas.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials from the Del Rio Sector are looking to focus on preventing deaths of undocumented immigrants and how Border Patrol personnel are involved in rescuing those in distress.
Migrants rescued in the year
Mauricio Alfredo Rodríguez, representative in Juárez of the State Civil Protection, indicated in early July that more than 100 migrants have been rescued this year in the Rio Bravo. In just one day, they managed to help 54 migrants who were trapped.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) declared the border between Mexico and the United States last September as “the most dangerous land migration route in the world,” with more than 686 migrants dead or missing in 2022.
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