Ten migrants drown in a fast-flowing river while crossing the Darien River in Panama

Ten migrants drowned while trying to cross a fast-flowing river in the Darien Gap of Panamaon the border with Colombia, Panamanian authorities said Wednesday.

The National Border Service said in a statement that the victims were swept away by the strong current and their bodies were later seen near the indigenous community of Carreto.

An agency official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case said on condition of anonymity that the drownings were believed to have occurred on July 16, but the area was so remote that they were only now able to release the information.

Prosecutors were investigating details including the victims’ nationalities, the official said. More than half of the migrants who They cross the Darien come from Venezuela.

More than 500,000 migrants made the dangerous crossing across the jungle-covered border in a record year of 2023. So far this year, more than 212,000 have entered Panama through the Darien.

It is the rainy season in Panama, which makes the many rivers that migrants have to cross even more dangerous.

The new Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, has pledged to Stop migration through the Darien with the assistance of the United States government.

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