Woman dies as migrants try to swim into U.S., border agents in California say

One woman died after a large group of swimmers tried to enter the U.S. by swimming around the border barrier to the San Diego shore, border officials say.

Border Patrol agents said they received notice at around 11:38 p.m. on Oct. 29 that a group of possibly 70 people was trying to swim across the international boundary at Tijuana into the U.S. at Border Field State Park in San Diego, California, according to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

One agent came across an unresponsive woman believed to have been with the swimmers. The agent performed CPR on the woman and requested emergency medical assistance. Emergency personnel arrived and continued to try and help the woman, but she was pronounced dead around 12:30 a.m., officials said in the release.

Border Patrol agents, along with responders from the U.S. Coast Guard, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, Air and Marine Operations, and California State Parks continued to search the area for more people who needed help, the release said.

Border agents apprehended 36 adult Mexican nationals who swam around the border barrier and took them into custody. Thirteen were rescued from the water by the Coast Guard, the release said, and all 36 were taken to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing, according to the release.

The agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the incident, the release said.