‘Panicked screams’ alert deputy to dozens of migrants struggling in Arizona canal

An Arizona sheriff’s deputy on patrol spotted more than two dozen people jumping into a canal. Then he heard “panicked screams.”

The group of 25 migrants, including children, began to struggle while trying to swim across the canal near Yuma on Saturday, Jan. 8, after crossing the border from Mexico, the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release.

“I need assistance, I have people drowning,” the deputy radios after driving past people in the canal, according to a video posted by the sheriff’s department.

The deputy “deployed ropes and tow straps” to help pull people from the fast-moving water, while a U.S. Border Patrol agent on the opposite side of the canal did the same.

The video shows the officer dragging frantic people from the water, assisted by other migrants.

All 25 people were rescued and none had serious injuries, the release said. Additional U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived to process the migrants.

This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 7:14 AM with the headline "‘Panicked screams’ alert deputy to dozens of migrants struggling in Arizona canal."