Girl dies just before her birthday after mom goes in search of water

17 June,2019 08:28 AM IST |  Arizona  |  mid-day online correspondent

A six-year-old migrant child from India died of heat stroke after her mother left her with other migrants to go in search of water in Arizona where temperatures are as high as 42 degrees Celsius

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In a tragic incident, a six-year-old migrant child from India died of heat stroke, after her mother left her with other migrants to go in search of water. The girl identified as Gurupreet Kaur was found by the US Border Patrol west of Lukeville, Arizona where temperatures are as high as 42 degrees Celsius, U.S. Border Patrol and the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME) stated.

Unfortunately, he died before celebrating her 7th birthday which was approaching soon. This is not the first fatality of a migrant child this year in Arizona's southern deserts, Kaur is the second child to have died of heat stroke. According to India Times, Kaur and her mother were part of a group of five Indian nationals who were dropped off by smugglers in a remote border area, 27 kilometres west of Lukeville in Arizona state. After walking some miles, the girl's mother and another woman went in search of water leaving her daughter behind with some other migrants.

Also Read: Bihar: Heatwave claims 37 lives; Harsh Vardhan advises people to stay indoors

The mother and the other woman wandered in the desert and were discovered by a Border Patrol agent after 22 hours of their drop off who tracked their footprints. The mother didn't speak English and communicated through sign language that she had left behind her daughter and two other migrants. Four hours later, Border Patrol agents found the body of the deceased girl around 1.6 km from the border.

The Border Patrol blamed the death of the girl on the smugglers for abandoning children and women in the desert. "This is a senseless death driven by cartels who are profiting from putting lives at risk," Tucson Chief Patrol Agent Roy Villareal said in a statement. Agents then tracked the other migrants who were with Kaur from their footprints.

Also Read: No respite from heat as Delhi to sizzles at 46 degree Celsius

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