Watch officials rush to rescue father and 2-year-old from canal on US-Mexico border

A father and his 2-year-old son were swept away by a rapid current and were stranded in a canal on the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.

The 23-year-old father strapped his son to his back and entered the Salinity Canal on Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday. They were trying to enter the U.S. and were “struggling” in the canal, border officials said.

Officials with the Yuma Sector Border Patrol Operations Center in Arizona saw the incident on surveillance video and notified border agents in the area.

“An air interdiction agent who was piloting a helicopter in the area at the time, saw the man and child in the canal and landed his helicopter along the canal bank to provide aid,” border officials said. “The pilot repeatedly threw rescue lines to the father, who was unable to catch it due to the fast-moving current.”

After several failed attempts to use rescue lines to pull the father and son out of the canal, a Yuma agent entered the water, border officials said.

“The father and son were transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where the child was treated for hypothermia,” border officials said. “They were later released to Yuma Border Patrol agents for further processing.”

Last year, border officials rescued three people from the Salinity Canal near the Colorado River, according to CBP. They were also struggling to stay afloat.

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Watch officials rush to rescue father and 2-year-old from canal on US-Mexico border."