A 24-year-old Guatemalan woman has died after falling 30 feet from a border fence in California, authorities said Friday.
The woman was climbing a secondary fence at San Diego’s Otay Mesa Port of Entry on March 21, but became stuck before she began screaming for help, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said. .
U.S. Border Patrol agents became aware of her presence around 10:30 p.m. and initially tried to dissuade her from climbing the fence, authorities said.
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A U.S. Border Patrol agent monitors a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall from a vehicle near Otay Mesa between San Diego and Tijuana. Border officials announced Friday that a woman died after falling from a fence at a border crossing earlier this month. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
According to CBP, San Diego Fire Rescue arrived at the scene around 10:48 p.m. after a woman was screaming that she was struggling to hold onto a fence.
However, when the fire trucks arrived, they were unable to negotiate the tight bend and get close enough to use the ladder.
“Officers told the woman that firefighters were on their way with a ladder and instructed her to hold out for as long as possible,” CBP said.
Meanwhile, the woman continued to scream for help and fell, hitting an elevated concrete foundation around 10:54 p.m., CBP officials said.
Responding personnel arrived and found the woman suffering from head trauma and extensive bleeding. She was unresponsive, authorities said. Doctors at Scripps Mercy Hospital pronounced the woman dead after consulting with medical personnel from the fire department on scene.
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San Diego Police and the San Diego County Coroner’s Office are investigating the incident. The San Diego Fire Department’s Professional Standards Division and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General are also conducting internal investigations into the incident.
CBP acknowledged that part of the incident was captured on body cameras worn by multiple border agents.
In September, a woman died after falling from the border wall at the same Otay Mesa intersection.
