WARROAD, Minn. — Nine people are recovering after being rescued from a flooded bog near Warroad, allegedly after crossing the U.S. border illegally.
The U.S. Border Patrol said the agency was notified Tuesday afternoon by colleagues in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that they had received a distress call from a member of the group.
Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement responded to a flooded bog west of Warroad just before 5 p.m. and located nine people suffering from exposure in cold, wet weather conditions. The group was pulled from the bog and transported to a local medical facility for treatment.
Seven of the men are confirmed released, while the status of the other two is unclear. Those released were placed in the custody of the immigration service.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Steven Bansbach said agents were able to determine seven of the nine people rescued had illegally entered the United States and did not have documentation allowing them to be in the country.
Seven of the men were Mexican citizens but there was no immediate word on the nationality of the men still being treated because of their conditions, according to the Border Patrol.
The outcome of the situation could have been much worse: In January 2022, four members of a family from India, including two children aged 3 and 11, died while attempting to walk into the U.S. from Canada during a blizzard. They were among a group of 11 people trying to cross near the Minnesota-North Dakota border.
Their frozen bodies were found near Emerson, Manitoba, only a few yards from the U.S. border after they became separated from the larger group, authorities said.
A Florida man was charged in that case with transportation of an undocumented immigrant but not with the deaths.
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