10 migrants drown in rushing river crossing Darien Gap in Panama

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Ten migrants drowned trying to cross a rushing river in Panama’s Darien Gap that borders Colombia, Panamanian authorities said Wednesday.

The National Border Service said in a statement that the victims were swept away by the strong current and their bodies were later seen near the Indigenous community of Carreto.

An agency official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case said on condition of anonymity that the drownings were believed to have occurred on July 16, but the area was so remote that they were only now able to release the information.

The prosecutor’s office was investigating details, including the victims’ nationalities, the official said. More than half of the migrants crossing the Darien come from Venezuela.

500,000 migrants made the treacherous crossing through the jungle-clad border in a record-setting 2023. So far this year, more than 212,000 have entered Panama through the Darien.

It is the rainy season in Panama, making the numerous rivers that migrants have to cross more dangerous.

New Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has pledged to stop migration through the Darien with assistance from the U.S. government.