TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras.- “They shouted all they could,” he said with deep sadness, Jesus Vargas, A fisherman who was born next to the Bravo river -between the southern border of the United States and Mexico to remember how several Central American migrants drowned on March 16.
The terrible scene began when Vargas, on leaving work, saw an Astro Van van being chased by US authorities. So, he decided to follow the chase until he observed how 10 migrants got out of the vehicle and threw themselves into the Rio Bravo to get to Mexico and avoid being arrested. However, not everyone managed to cross.
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“Two or three returned (to the US band), two made it to the other side (Mexico) and three women and a chamaquito remained,” the fisherman told Telemundo.
He also detailed that the migrants shouted non-stop in front of the eyes of the border agents of United States, Those who did nothing to rescue them from the waters.
Vargas, asked the authorities the reason for his indifference to the tragic scene, as people were at risk of drowning. The authorities’ response was that the migrants “were already almost at the crossing on the other side,” so, “they were not allowed to get into the water.”
In the opinion of the migrants, they had entered American soil illegally and, knowing that they had been discovered by the Border Patrol, they preferred to throw themselves into the river and return to Mexico to avoid being arrested.
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“Lifebuoy?”
During the recording, the fisherman is heard shouting, “Don’t you have life jackets, nothing? ‘They’re drowning these guys! This girl never came out.”
At the time, the witness realized that a child was trying to get out of the water and decided to stop filming to come to his aid.
“I tried to get his attention, he saw on this side and I threw him 1 reel of fishing. He took out his hand, fished the thread and it was the way I took him by the shore of the river, “Jesus recalled.
However, far from helping save his life, patrolmen asked the minor to turn around to arrest him.
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“That’s not the way,” Vargas told the officer. “Take him to the hospital, he had to take water from the river, the chamaquito is going to get sick. I got angry with the officer and so no, eh. I didn’t know anymore,” the fisherman said .
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For its part, the Border patrol of the Laredo, Texas sector, confirmed in his Facebook account that “two people succumbed to the dangers of the Rio Grande and died.”
And they added that “some of the individuals entered the river and safely reached the banks of the Mexican river. An individual was rescued by a local fisherman and received first aid by agents (…). The incident is still under investigation “.
So far, the nationality of the detained migrants and those who drowned has not been revealed.
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