HOUSTON: A 19-year-old pregnant woman from Guatemala died this week from injuries suffered when she fell trying to climb the US border wall near El Paso, Texas, US and Guatemalan authorities said.

Guatemala identified the woman as Mirian Stephany Girn Luna. Medical personnel tried to deliver her baby, but were unsuccessful, both governments said. The US said Girn was eight months pregnant, while Guatemalan authorities said she was at seven months.

US Customs and Border Protection blamed Girn’s death on human smugglers who encouraged her to try to climb the wall. In a statement, Gloria Chavez, the chief for the Border Patrols El Paso sector, said the authorities would work with Mexico to find those responsible for placing these lives in danger.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters that Girn and her partner were taken to the border by smugglers and left there in the darkness. They were attempting to climb when she fell. Border Patrol agents reached her and called medical authorities, who took her to the hospital but tragically, the mother and the child died from their injuries from the fall, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2020