Mexico City, July 25 (RHC)-- Many are resorting to risky means to reach the United States after the government adopted a hardline stance against irregular migration from Central America.

The tragic tales of children — fleeing violence and conflict — dying at sea while trying to reach safety tend to come from the other side of the Atlantic, but the story hit much closer to home, with three Central American children dying off the coast of Mexico on route to the United States.

Prosecutors from the southern state of Chiapas said that at least three migrant children drowned after the boat they were in capsized in heavy rain.  The children are believed to have drowned but their remains were not recovered until two days later, when the waves washed their bodies ashore.

Initial findings suggest as many as four children were traveling with their parents aboard a vessel provided by human smugglers.  It is not clear if the children were from Honduras or El Salvador.  The prosecutors office said the three victims were from El Salvador, but the Honduran foreign ministry said two of the children were Honduran.

Meanwhile, Honduran newspaper La Prensa identified one of the victims as ten-year-old Jennifer Gavarrete Lopez, who reportedly was traveling with her mother, Olga Marina Lopez, who survived.  La Prensa reported that Lopez returned to her community in Honduras without her child's remains.

A second victim was identified as 7-year-old Carlos Daniel Aguilar, who was traveling with his mother and an older brother, both are believed to have survived and continued their journey north.  The third child victim has not yet been identified.

The United States, which has adopted a hardline stance against irregular migration by people from Central America, has deported thousands of migrants from Honduras and El Salvador in recent months.  Thousands of unaccompanied minors have braved the perilous journey to the United States.