Harrowing images of a father and daughter from El Salvador, who drowned whilst trying to get to the US, have been released, showing them face down in the Rio Grande.

It comes amid a recent spate of deaths on the US-Mexico border, as migrants succumb to the dangerous conditions along the route

The little girl can be seen holding on to her father as they are both seen lying face down in the shallow water, suggesting they kept close during their final moments.

They were identified as Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria.

According to local Mexican paper Le Duc, Mr Ramírez had swam the river with his daughter and then left her on the US side to go back for his wife, however Valeria panicked and tried to reach her father, but were both swept away by the current.

The spate of migrant deaths comes as the head of the US border protection, or ICE, resigned.

Read more:

• Trump cuts aid to central America over migrants

• Mexico deploys 15,000 forces across border to curb US-bound migration

• Poor nations hosting most refugees worldwide- Need more Western help

Sky News

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