WASHINGTON: A nine-year-old Mexican child died while trying to cross the Rio Grande into the US, the Border Patrol said Friday amid a surge in migrants seeking to enter the country.
The child was found together with a Guatemalan woman and her three-year-old, all unconscious and stranded on an island in the middle of the river which demarcates the US-Mexico border in Texas on March 20.
“Agents found the individuals and immediately began administering first aid while transporting the migrants to shore,” the Border Patrol said in a statement that did not state the deceased child’s gender.
The woman and the three-year-old regained consciousness but the nine-year-old could not be revived.
The three, who were not identified, were some of the 500 migrants rescued from dangerous situations in the past five months as thousands attempt to cross the border every day.
A senior Border Patrol official said Friday that the numbers continue to increase: some 6,000 undocumented migrants were caught on Thursday trying to enter the country.
Unlike in the past, when most of those caught crossing the southern border illegally were single adults, most recently about half have been either in family units or as unaccompanied children. Most are being sent back into Mexico but all of the unaccompanied children and a number of the families are being allowed to stay in the US. — AFP
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