City
Epaper

Body of 7-year-old Indian girl found in Arizona desert

By IANS | Updated: June 14, 2019 20:35 IST

The body of a 7-year-old Indian girl was found in a remote desert area in the US state of Arizona earlier this week, according to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Open in App

According to authorities, the unidentified girl "was trying to cross into the US with a group of people from her country". Her body was discovered 17 miles west of Lukeville, just over the US-Mexico border on Wednesday, the local media reported.

Border agents said the day when the girl's body was found, they were told that human smugglers helped five Indian illegal immigrants cross into the US.

The group was trying to get into the US after human smugglers dropped them off near the Mexico border, the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

CBP described the terrain where the young girl was found as "rugged desert wilderness" and said anyone there would have "little to no resources." Temperatures were around 108 degrees on the day the girl is believed to have died.

Border Patrol agents got the information on the girl's movements from two women from India who told officials they'd been separated from a woman and two children travelling in their group hours earlier.

"Agents took the two women into custody and began searching the area north of the international border in remote terrain seven miles west of Quitobaquito Springs," the agency said in a statement cited by the US media. "Within hours, they discovered the little girl's remains."

Agents used helicopters to search for the people she'd been travelling with and found footprints indicating they returned to Mexico.

"Our sympathies are with this little girl and her family," Tucson Chief Patrol Agent Roy Villareal was quoted as saying by CNN. "This is a senseless death driven by cartels who are profiting from putting lives at risk."

Customs and Border Protection agents along with Mexican authorities were searching both sides of the border for anyone associated with the group.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Roy VillarealCBPBorder Protection
Open in App

Related Stories

TechnologyIIT Mandi team to turn agriculture residue, paper waste to useful chemicals

InternationalUS scrutinizing imports from China's Xinjiang under Uyghur Labor Prevention Act

InternationalIndian may face jail term for illegally re-entering US

InternationalUS ban on imports of Chinese products from Xinjiang upsets Xi's hegemony dreams

InternationalUS Customs and Border Protection seize fake COVID vaccine cards shipped from China

International Realted Stories

InternationalCanada goes to polls on April 28

InternationalOman, UAE boost bilateral trade, investment ties at Advantage Oman Forum

InternationalDubai Municipality to highlight its pioneering tourism projects at Arabian Travel Market 2025

InternationalIndian diaspora in Frankfurt holds protest against J-K terror attack

InternationalRAK hosts 'Visual Rhythms of Art and Photography' exhibition