Bodies of 5 drowning victims found in canals along US-Mexico border
Los Angeles, Jun 21 (EFE).- Five bodies were found over the weekend in the canals running along the US-Mexican border near El Paso, Texas, despite recent official warnings to migrants about the danger of drowning in those waterways, which are deeper than they appear.
The recovered bodies were in addition to five other drowning victims, whose remains were found last weekend.
Early Sunday morning, the El Paso Fire Department responded to an emergency call from Customs and Border Protection in the Paisano and Executive zone, where two bodies were found.
Later on Sunday, firefighters responded to another call regarding a possible body spotted in a canal and found another dead migrant there.
Meanwhile, customs agents in El Paso County recovered the body of a man from a canal in San Elizario at midday on Sunday.
On Saturday morning, emergency workers found the body of a woman in her early 20s in another waterway near a water treatment plant on Southside Road, according to information posted by the online media outlet Border Report.
The Border Patrol in the El Paso sector recently had issued a warning about the dangers of trying to cross the border canals and waterways.
The statement warned that the canals are deeper than they seem and at this time of year often have strong currents since water is being released from the reservoirs upstream for irrigation purposes.
In addition, authorities encouraged the public to send messages to friends and acquaintences on both sides of the border to avoid entering the channels for any reason, saying that “The risk is not worth it.”
Last week, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector managed to save 18 migrants from drowning as they were trying to illegally enter the US by swimming across the Rio Grande, the river marking the border between Texas and Mexico.
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