Scorching heat in the US Southwest kills three migrants in the desert near the Arizona-Mexico border
PHOENIX — Three Mexican migrants have died in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, near the U.S.-Mexico border, as high temperatures soar into triple digits in parts of the Southwest.
The U.S. Border Patrol said Friday that the bodies of two men, ages 44 and 18, and a 17-year-old girl were found early Wednesday in the desert in an area called Sheep Mountain, in coastal southwestern Arizona. Barry M. Goldwater Rangea remote military training area near the Cabeza Prieta National Nature Reserve.
A rescue beacon was activated for migrants to call for help, prompting a search by land and air. Another member of the group of four was found alive. The bodies were taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies. The Mexican Consulate was notified.
High temperatures this week in the lower deserts of Arizona and Phoenix have averaged 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (43 to 46 C), as the region reels under an extreme heat warning that extends into the Lower Colorado Valley and the Southeast of California. In Las Vegas, where the high temperature was expected to reach 103 degrees F (39 C) on Friday, National Weather Service Warmer than normal temperatures in the triple digits are expected over the coming week due to a high pressure system over the western United States.
Such temperatures can be dangerous for people who sit outside in the sun for hours.
“The terrain along the border is extreme, the relentless summer heat is intense, and the remote areas where smugglers bring migrants are unforgiving,” said Deputy Border Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre of the agency’s Tucson Sector. “Far too many people who have made the decision to put their lives in the hands of criminal organizations have died from dehydration and heat stroke.”
There have been cases in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix six heat-related deaths reported so far this year. Another 111 deaths are under investigation for possible heat causes. In Pima County, where Tucson is located, the reports from the medical examiner’s office that eight heat-related deaths have been confirmed in that province so far this year and in several small rural deaths it is covering.
Public health officials in Maricopa County confirm the numbers were staggering 645 heat-related deaths last year in the jurisdiction of about 4.5 million people – more than 50% higher than 2022 and another consecutive annual record in arid metro Phoenix.
That report caused great concern among authorities in America’s hottest metropolis. They were concerned about how vulnerable groups could be better protected against the scorching heat.