Three Mexican migrants passed away in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, near the US-Mexico border, as temperatures in areas of the Southwest reached triple digits.
The bodies of two men, ages 44 and 18, as well as a 17-year-old girl, were discovered in the desert early Wednesday in an area known as Sheep Mountain in southwestern Arizona on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, a remote military training area near the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, according to the US Border Patrol.
A rescue beacon for migrants to ask for assistance had been activated, triggering a search by land and air. Another member of the gang of four was discovered alive. The bodies were sent to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy. The Mexican consulate was notified. This week’s high temperatures in Arizona’s lower deserts and Phoenix have averaged 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, as the region is under an excessive heat watch that stretches into the Lower Colorado Valley and southeastern California.
In Las Vegas, where the high was projected to reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, the National Weather Service predicted triple-digit temperatures over the next week due to a ridge of high pressure across the western United States.
These temperatures can be dangerous for anyone who has been outside in the sun for several hours.
“The terrain along the border is extreme, the relentless summer heat is severe, and remote areas where smugglers bring migrants are unforgiving,” said Deputy Border Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre from the agency’s Tucson Sector. “Far too many people who decided to place their lives into the hands of the criminal organizations have died of dehydration and heat stroke.”
There have been six heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, this year. Another 111 deaths are being evaluated as suspected heat-related causes. The medical examiner’s office in Pima County, which includes Tucson, reported that eight heat-related deaths have been documented this year in that county as well as numerous small rural ones.
Maricopa County public health officials acknowledge that there were a shocking 645 heat-related deaths last year in the jurisdiction of around 4.5 million people, more than 50% higher than in 2022 and another straight yearly record in parched Phoenix as per azfamily.
Those findings concerned officials in America’s hottest major city, prompting questions about how to properly protect vulnerable groups from the scorching heat.
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