Coast Guard rescues 8 children on Rio Grande near McAllen, Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard rescued eight children, ages ranging from 6 to 13 years old, on the Rio Grande near McAllen, Texas, Tuesday.

A 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew from Coast Guard Maritime Safety & Security Team Houston was patrolling the Rio Grande at approximately 8:30 p.m. when they encountered a group of non-citizens attempting to cross the river nearby.

The crew encountered a raft with one adult potential smuggler and eight non-citizen children aboard. When the Coast Guard crew approached, the potential smuggler jumped overboard, deflated the raft, and swam back to the Mexican side of the river.

As the vessel began to deflate and take on water, the Coast Guard crew rescued the eight children in the water from the sinking raft. They then brought the survivors safely ashore and transferred them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for further processing.

No injuries were reported.

Coast Guard boat crews are deployed to the area, assisting CBP, primarily to conduct search and rescue and assist with surveillance of non-citizen movements on and near the river.