SOUL-CRUSHING

Father and Toddler Daughter Found Drowned, Clinging to Each Other in Rio Grande After Trying to Reach U.S.

The man and his nearly 2-year-old daughter tried to swim across the river after not being able to apply for asylum with U.S. authorities.

A Salvadoran man and his nearly 2-year-old daughter were found face-down and clinging to each other in shallow water in the Rio Grande on Monday after drowning while trying to reach the U.S., the Associated Press reports. Mexican newspaper La Jornada published a photograph of the man and his 23-month-old child, her head tucked under his shirt and arm around his neck as if she were desperately clutching him in her final moments. The man and the child, identified as Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and Valeria, reportedly tried to make it across the river after being unable to apply for asylum through U.S. authorities. Ramírez had reportedly left his daughter on the river bank to go back and help his wife across, but when the toddler threw herself in the water and tried to go after him, he swam back for her and they were both swept away in the water. Their deaths come after a number of migrants have been found dead in recent weeks while attempting to enter the U.S., including two babies and a toddler, among others.