Friendica Social Network

earthling

4 days ago • •

earthling
4 days ago • •

A man attempts to resuscitate a man from Mexico who is unconscious and lays on the shore of the Rio Grande River in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, #Mexico, February 24, 2024.REUTERS/Cheney Orr

@photography
#refugees

In the early evening of Feb. 24, a small group of Guatemalan migrants approached the Rio Grande at Piedras Negras carrying their belongings, led by their coyote (smuggler guide) as they sought to cross to Eagle Pass, Texas.

Photographer Cheney Orr saw them enter the water. At first they seemed nervous but excited. But it soon became clear the current was strong and the group lost their footing and returned to the Mexican side.

Then they decided to try again.

This time the mood was more somber. A U.S. National Guard officer arrived on the opposite bank and shouted at them in Spanish through a megaphone to return, telling them the river was dangerous.

This time, as they reached the center and again lost their footing, they became separated and were dragged away by the current.

Men came running to help and managed to grab one of them, pull him out of the water and resuscitate him. It turned out to be the smuggler, who was escorted away from the river by authorities, along with other survivors of the incident. Reuters was unable to establish his name or what happened to him afterwards.

Orr did trace the families of two of the migrants who drowned in the failed crossing attempt - 25-year-old Rossanna and her partner, 26-year-old Widman.

Exact numbers are hard to come by, but a recent investigation by the Washington Post and others found at least 1,107 people drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande between 2017 and 2023.

⇧