2 found dead in US-Mexico border river Rio Grande

Houston, Aug 4 (IANS) Two people were found dead in the southern part of the Rio Grande river bordering the US and Mexico, authorities said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has confirmed that a body was found stuck in the southern lines of the floating barriers the US state installed recently, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Preliminary information suggests this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys. There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross," DPS Director Steven McCraw said.

A second body was discovered separately in the area of the buoys by the Beta Group of Piedras Negras, ABC News reported, citing a statement from the Mexican government.

"So far, the cause of death and nationality of the person is unknown," the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, which repeated its condemnation of the buoys, calling them a "violation of our sovereignty", according to the ABC News report.

"We express our concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants that these state policies will have, which go in the opposite direction to the close collaboration between our country and the federal government of the US," the Ministry reportedly said in the statement.

The identities of the two bodies remained unknown.

In the wake of the end of Title 42 in May, Republican-led Texas planned to install a floating water barrier, making up of buoys, so as to deter migrants from crossing the border in heavily trafficked areas of the river.

The first 1,000-foot stretch had been placed by July 7 in Eagle Pass, western Texas, which shares the border with the Mexican city of Piedras Negras.

In late July, the Joe Biden administration filed a lawsuit against Texas over deploying water barriers in the Rio Grande, alleging that Texas and its Republican Governor Greg Abbott violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act by building a structure in US water without permission from the Army Corps of Engineers.