Scorching heat kills 3 migrants in Arizona desert near Mexico border

PHOENIX (AP) — Three Mexican migrants have died in Arizona's Sonoran Desert near the U.S.-Mexico border as temperatures reach triple digits in parts of the Southwest.

The U.S. Border Patrol reported Friday that the bodies of two men, ages 44 and 18, and a 17-year-old girl were found in the desert early Wednesday in an area called Sheep Mountain, which is in the southwest Arizona on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, a remote military training area near the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

A distress beacon was activated to allow migrants to call for help, triggering land and air searches. Another member of the group of four was found alive. The bodies were transported to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy. The Mexican consulate has been notified.

Highs this week in Arizona's lower deserts and Phoenix averaged 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit as the region swelters under an excessive heat warning that extends to the lower Colorado Valley and southeastern California. In Las Vegas, where the high was expected to reach 103 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, the high was 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. National Weather Service Warmer than normal temperatures, in the triple digits, are expected over the next week due to a ridge of high pressure over the western United States.

These kinds of temperatures can pose a danger to people who stay outside in the sun for hours.

“The terrain along the border is extreme, the unrelenting summer heat is severe and the isolated areas where smugglers bring migrants are unforgiving,” said Justin De La Torre, deputy Border Patrol agent for the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol. 'agency. “Far too many people who made the decision to put their lives in the hands of criminal organizations have died of dehydration or heat stroke.”

In Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, six heat-related deaths have been reported so far this year. Another 111 deaths are being investigated to determine possible causes of the heat. In Pima County, where Tucson is located, the medical examiner's office reports eight heat-related deaths have been confirmed so far this year for that county and several smaller rural counties it cares for.

Maricopa County public health officials confirm there were 645 heat-related deaths last year in the jurisdiction of about 4.5 million people – more than 50% more than in 2022 and another consecutive annual record in the arid Phoenix metro area.

The report has alarmed officials in the hottest major metropolis in the United States, raising concerns about how to better protect vulnerable groups from the scorching heat.

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