The International Organization for Migration points to an increasing death toll as more people try to enter the US from Mexico.
At least eight people found dead in Rio Grande after dozens of people tried dangerous crossing to enter the United States from Mexico near Eagle Pass, Texas, officials said.
American officials recovered six bodies, while Mexican teams recovered two others, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Friday.
U.S. and Mexican officials made the grim finding on Thursday while responding to a large group of people crossing the river after days of heavy rain resulted in particularly rapid flows.
The US border agency said US crews rescued 37 others from the river and arrested 16 others, while Mexican officials detained 39.
Officials on both sides of the border are continuing to search for other possible victims, US Customs and Border Protection said.
Details are not provided about What country or countries do the people come from? and no additional information about the rescue or search has been released.
The U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio area, including Eagle Pass, is fast becoming the busiest corridor for people attempting to cross into the United States.
The field could soon overtake Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, which has been the focal point of the past decade.
People from dozens of countries, many of them in families with young children, trying to cross the US border and cross the Rio Grande were killed. especially dangerous because river flows can be very fast and change rapidly.
River crossing can be a challenge even for strong swimmers.
US authorities said in August that the bodies of more than 200 people trying to cross the border had been discovered between October and July.
Surveys by the International Organization for Migration and other organizations show a growing death toll as the number of people attempting to cross the border has skyrocketed.
US Border Patrol makes a record 1.8 million prisoners at the Southwest border from October 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022. The figure includes people who have crossed the border multiple times with each time being counted separately.
Over the past three decades, thousands have also died trying to get from Mexico to the US – often from dehydration or drowning.
In June, 53 people were found dead or dead in a tractor-trailer on a back street in San Antonio in the deadliest tragedy that claimed the lives of people smuggled across the border from Mexico.
