1 Child Dead, 3 People Missing After Migrant Raft Overturns In Rio Grande

Source: NPR


May 2, 20197:11 PM ET



U.S. Border Patrol cars are seen from the bridge connecting Eagle Pass, Texas, with Piedras Negras, Mexico, near the banks
of the Rio Grande in February.
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

U.S. border authorities have recovered the body of a 10-month-old child and continue searching for two other children and an adult whose raft overturned in the Rio Grande as they were attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday night near Del Rio, Texas, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"What we're dealing with now is senseless tragedy," said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz in a statement released Thursday. "The men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol have been doing everything in their power to prevent incidents like this. And yet, callous smugglers continue to imperil the lives of migrants for financial gain."

Border agents on patrol encountered a 27-year-old Honduran male who reported that he was one of nine people on a rubber raft that had overturned in what was described as cold and fast-flowing waters. The man said that his wife, two sons who were 10 months old and 6 years old, and a 7-year-old nephew were swept away. Two other families were also on the raft, a CBP official told NPR.

A border agent later found the wife and 6-year-old son of the man who made the initial report. The boy was rushed to a local hospital.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/02/719797605/1-child-dead-3-people-missing-after-migrant-raft-overturns-in-rio-grande?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news