Agents rescue injured woman after fall at Otay Canyon

Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations agents rescued a seriously injured woman in the Otay Mountain Wilderness east of San Diego early Wednesday morning.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at 5:30 a.m., agents apprehended a man from Honduras who crossed into the United States illegally in the Otay Mountain Wilderness. The man told agents he was traveling with a woman who fell down into a steep canyon hours before he was arrested.

The man added that he had climbed down to her location and said she was conscious but appeared in bad condition.

CBP’s Air and Marine Operations were able to locate the injured woman from the air and guided agents on the ground to her location. Agents reported that the woman was going in and out of consciousness.

At approximately 10:06 a.m., the woman was airlifted out of the canyon and was then transported to a local area hospital for evaluation. The woman suffered from multiple traumatic injuries.

“If not for the quick response by Border Patrol agents and the skillful air search and helicopter hoist extraction by Air and Marine Operations agents of this seriously injured woman, she would have perished on this mountain,” San Diego Director of Air and Marine Operations Hunter Davis said.

Agents discovered the woman was a 31-year-old Honduran national who had illegally crossed into the U.S.