BARRIO – Three Salvadoran sisters have been rescued from an islet on the Rio Grande after they were reportedly abandoned by migrant smugglers, according to Mexico’s immigration agency.

The children, aged one, six and nine, were found after Mexico’s National Guard issued an alert Wednesday. A task force with the National Institute of Immigration responded to the call and were able to safely remove the girls from the islet, known as Isla del Mudo.

Video footage shows the oldest girl carrying her baby sister before handing her over to one of the agents as she and her other sister clamber on to the boat. The children were later turned over to Mexico’s System for the Integral Development of the Family.

Salvadoran consulate officials in the northeastern Mexican city of Monterrey have been in contact with local authorities, according to the Central American nation’s foreign ministry.

The Rio Grande serves as a section of the border between Texas and the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, and can be considered the top crossing point for migrants seeking to enter the United States legally or illegally.

It is also an area where many children have been left behind by smugglers. Others have not been so fortunate and drowned in the strong river currents.