A young father and his infant daughter drowned on Saturday in the waters of the Rio Grande while attempting to cross into the United States.

Óscar Alberto Martínez, 25, and Tania Vanesa Ávalos, 21, from El Salvador, had been waiting in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, to be granted asylum by the United States.

But after months of waiting, they decided to risk crossing the border and, with their 23-month-old daughter Valeri, waded into the waters of the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico.

But once in the water, Tania Ávalos lost her grip on the child due to the strong current, and her husband swam after her. The mother’s cries for help were heard by bystanders who took her her back to shore but her husband and daughter were not so lucky, and both drowned.

Their bodies were recovered yesterday by Civil Protection officials.