San Diego County

8 people hospitalized after falling from US-Mexico border fence in San Diego County

First responders said the sound of ambulance sirens is becoming more frequent along San Diego's southern border

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Eight people were taken to the hospital overnight after falling from the border fence. NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada explains how this is the latest incident in a growing number of falls that has some people concerned.

Eight people were taken to the hospital after falling from the U.S.Mexico border fence in San Diego County overnight Saturday, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

The fire department responded to a call Saturday morning from California Border Patrol about several migrants who needed medical aid because they were injured after falling from the border fence.

Of the eight that were taken to the hospital, three of them had serious injuries, fire officials said.

Just one week prior on March 2, 10 people were injured after falling from the same border fence near the Tijuana River Valley.

First responders said the sound of ambulance sirens is becoming more frequent along San Diego's southern border.

Pedro Rios, migrant rights advocate and director of the American Friends Service Committee, said he witnessed some injuries these migrants had from the fall.

"There was one woman who had a head laceration. There was another man who had a head laceration. There were three other individuals who were also injured — one with an injury to his back, another one with a profound laceration to his leg and a broken arm," Rios said.

Last December, NBC 7 spoke with Dr. Alexander Tenorio, a neurosurgery resident at UC San Diego Health. He has treated patients who have sustained serious injuries from border fence falls, and he said it's a trend that's becoming more common.

"The injuries that we're seeing now, not only are they more frequent to the brain and spine, but more severe," Tenorio said.

In a statement to NBC 7, UCSD Health said, in part, "Physicians at UC San Diego Health attribute the rise in injuries to a height increase of the border wall from a range of eight and 17 feet to 30 feet."

“Falling from 10 feet, 15 feet, is different from falling from 30 feet. Thirty feet is similar to falling from a three-story building,” Tenorio said.

In 2022, UC San Diego Health converted a post-partum unit into a ward for border fence injuries. IN 2023, it treated more than 440 people.

UCSD Health also said deaths have jumped from zero before 2019 to 16 in 2022.

“My fear is that this trend of increased numbers of people that are falling from the border wall will continue and that not only will we continue to see life-altering injuries, such as broken backs, broken legs, traumatic head injuries, but also more people that will die as a result of falling from the border wall,” Rios said.

SDFD said those with serious injuries were taken to UCSD Hillcrest and Sharp Memorial Hospital and that the rest of the patients were taken to Chula Vista Sharp Hospital with minor injuries.

Ten people were in the hospital after rescue crews say they fell while trying to climb over the U.S.-Mexico border fence on March 2, 2024.

This article originally stated that the UC San Diego Health had treated more than 400 people for border-fence injuries when, in fact, that was the case for all of 2023 — Ed.

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