US officials search for Brazilian toddler who fell into Rio Grande

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Washington: US officials continue to search for a two-year-old Brazilian girl who fell into the Rio Grande as she was trying to illegally cross the river into the US with her mother.

On Monday, Border Patrol officials detained a woman shortly after she crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico. The Haitan-born woman told the officers that her two-year-old daughter had been swept away by the river when they were crossing it, Efe news quoted a statement by Customs and Border Protection agency as saying on Wednesday.

Border Patrol officers and members of the agency’s trauma, search and rescue unit launched an operation to try and find the girl with support from Mexican officials. The search operation includes air units, a dive team, a remote-controlled submersible and boats.

“I cannot imagine the anguish the parents of this young girl must be feeling and I hope our search efforts pay off with a positive outcome,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a statement.

On June 24, the bodies of a Salvadoran migrant and his 23-month-old daughter were found after they drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to cross into the US. Earlier in June a Guatemalan woman and her three children drowned on the US side of the river.