Fire department recovers body from American canal

Members of the El Paso fire department’s water rescue team were called to the floodgates at Delta and Coles Tuesday morning to pull the body of a man out of the American canal.

Border Patrol agents spotted the lifeless body floating in the canal near the floodgates around 6am and called the fire department.

The firefighters were able to recover the body by 8:30am.

At this time, investigators with El Paso police and Border Patrol are trying to determine if the victim is one of two men who fell into the canal Sunday afternoon near the Chihuahuita neighborhood downtow.

Border Patrol agents were able to rescue one man but the other was swept away by the strong currents in the canal.

As of today nine persons have drowned in the Rio Grande and canals trying to gain entry to the U.S.