Ten people drown in Panama river as migration risks escalate | Migration News [Video]

Ten people have drowned in a river near Panama’s border with Colombia, Panamanian border police say, as the rainy season increases the risks migrants and asylum seekers face along a popular migration route.

The bodies were found in riverside tributaries near the remote community of Carreto, the National Border Service, known as SENAFRONT, said on Wednesday.

The village lies on the Caribbean Sea and is part of the Guna Yala autonomous Indigenous territory.

SENAFRONT did not specify the nationalities of the people who drowned or whether they had crossed into Panama through the Darien Gap jungle or by boat.

“Transnational organised crime through local collaborators in these Caribbean coastal communities insist on using unauthorised crossings, putting the lives of these people at serious risk,” the agency added in a statement.

Connecting South and Central America, the Darien Gap is a dangerous route rife with natural hazards, including insects, snakes and unpredictable terrain.

Its landscape ranges from steep mountains to dense jungles and strong rivers, …