Five bodies were recovered this weekend from canals that run parallel to the US-Mexico border in the El Paso, Texas area, despite warnings given to migrants about the dangers of drowning in these currents, which are deeper than they seem.
The recovered bodies join another five that were found last weekend.
In the early hours of Sunday, the El Paso Fire Department responded to the emergency call from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Paisano and Executive area, where they found two bodies.
Later this Sunday, firefighters responded to another call for a possible body in the canals where another person was found dead.
Meanwhile, El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies recovered the body of a man from a canal in San Elizario at noon Sunday.
On Saturday morning, rescuers found the body of a woman in her 20s in another canal near a water treatment plant on Southside Road, according to Border Report.
The Border Patrol in the El Paso sector had issued a recent warning about the dangers of crossing border channels.
In a statement they warned that "the canals are deeper than they appear and often have significant water current at this time of year, as water is released from upstream reservoirs for irrigation purposes".
He also encouraged the public to message people on both sides of the border to avoid entering the channels for any reason. "The risk is not worth it"held.
Last week, Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley (Texas) sector saved 18 migrants from drowning who tried to cross the Rio Grande border.