3-Year-Old Boy Dies After Getting Swept Away While Trying to Cross the Rio Grande with Family

A 3-year-old boy died Wednesday after he was swept away as his family tried to crossthe Rio Grandein Eagle Pass, Texas.

Getty

The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The journey through the river near Eagle Pass is often harrowing because there are steep drop-offs that can cause people to be pulled away among some shallow parts of the water, per ABC News.

Wednesday’s death occurred amid a surge of migrant arrivals in the region, with Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas estimating that between 4,000 and 7,000 migrants have arrived in recent days, according to ABC News and Spectrum News 1 Austin.

Citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently said that authorities along the border have faced over 142,000 encounters in the first half of September, perReuters.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

According toThe Intercept, more people have died attempting to cross the border in the last three fiscal years than at any other time in recorded U.S. immigration enforcement history.

source: people.com