US soldier goes missing while saving migrants

Jon Anfinsen, president of the Border Force’s union in Del Rio, Texas, said on April 22 that the 22-year-old soldier immediately reacted when he saw a migrant woman in distress while crossing the Rio Grande border river. . He took off his armor and weapons and jumped into the river to swim with the woman who was being carried away by the current.

According to Anfinsen, the woman survived, but the soldier was swept away by the water. Texas officials are trying to locate the soldier.

At least 10 people have drowned this week while crossing the border river, said Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Olivarez said that incidents of crossing the Rio Grande to cross the border from Piedras Negras, Mexico, a city across from Eagle Pass have increased in recent weeks.

The head of the Del Rio Border Force union said 11 bodies had been recovered from the riverbank in the US and at least 12 had been found on the Mexican side this month alone. According to Anfinsen, this is a tragedy that weighs heavily on US border agents.

“Sometimes you see migrants swimming with buoys, but in this part of the river, people hold hands and cross. If they lose their footing, tragedy will happen,” he said. “The river looks calm and can be crossed, but it flows fast and deceives people.”

US border agents rescued dozens of people in the same area last week, after a group of people crossed the border were swept away by strong currents. The mayor of Eagle Pass said many people crossed the river, including those carrying children and elderly women.

Earlier this month, a 14-year-old boy from Honduras drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande with his cousins. According to NBC News, the group of teenagers crossed the border to reunite with their families in the city of Houston.

Huyen Le (According to Washington Post)