Pregnant teen dies after falling over border wall
A Customs and Border Protection vehicle is shown near the U.S.-Mexico border in a file photo. (Photo by Jinitzail Hernández/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
NEW YORK - A 19-year-old Guatemala woman, who was 8-months pregnant, died after falling over a section of the border barrier near El Paso.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection says she died Tuesday afternoon in an El Paso, Texas hospital after the incident took place last Saturday.
They say they found her east of El Paso in Clint, Texas and a male companion said that she fell from the steel mesh border barrier, landing on her back.
Agents immediately contacted Emergency Medical Services, which transported her to a hospital where she underwent an emergency C-section.
The baby did not survive and after multiple surgeries for her injuries, she died Tuesday afternoon.
"Sadly more lives have perished at the hands of human smugglers," said El Paso Sector Chief Gloria Chavez. "Someone in Mexico guided this 8 month pregnant woman from Guatemala to this section of the border and encouraged her and helped her climb the steel mesh border barrier."
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General and the Government of Guatemala has been notified and will investigate.