Four migrants die trying to cross Rio Grande, days after Texas truck deaths

At least four people including two children have died trying to cross the swollen Rio Grande, the latest fatal incident involving Central American migrants attempting to reach the United States.

Three of the victims – a 37-year-old woman, a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year old boy – were Guatemalan nationals, according to the country’s foreign ministry. The nationality of the fourth victim, an adult woman, has not yet been confirmed. The victims were part of a group of undocumented migrants trying to cross into El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

The deaths come just days after eight migrants were found dead in the back of a sweltering truck in a Walmart carpark in San Antonio, Texas. Two others later died in hospital, and dozens more needed medical treatment after suffering heat stroke and dehydration, in one of the deadliest people smuggling cases on record.

Details of the victims are only just emerging, but one was a Guatemalan teenager attempting to return to the US after being deported, while several others were Mexican nationals.

So far the driver, James Bradley, 60, from Florida is the only person detained in connection with the deaths. Bradley denies knowing that more than a hundred migrants were trapped in the back of his trailer.

“It doesn’t matter which avenue smugglers are trying to use – crossing the desert or the canals or checkpoints; the danger is still there,” José Romero, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, said on Tuesday.

Amid tighter controls along sections of the 2,000-mile US-Mexico border, the Rio Grande is still regarded as one of the safest places to cross as the river is usually shallow enough to wade through.

But torrential rain has converted the usually docile river into a death trap as water levels surged by more than a metre, submerging the people as they tried to cross.

The drownings took place on Monday afternoon. Emergency workers rescued seven others, but the search continues for several people who are still unaccounted for.

Authorities have recovered 10 bodies from the Rio Grande near El Paso so far this year. In comparison, there were six deaths in total last year, suggesting migrants are increasingly risking adverse conditions to reach the US.

Many Central Americans trying to reach the US cannot swim, and could easily be overwhelmed by the unpredictable current or rising water levels.

“People don’t understand that the way the water works in that it pushes you and sucks you … It is going to be an extremely dangerous attempt for someone trying to walk or swim across,” said Carlos Briano, an El Paso fire department spokesman.