This article contains graphic images and descriptions.

(CNN) The photo is haunting, a vivid reminder of the danger many face when they try to cross into the United States. It shows the human toll of a crisis at the border that's often debated with abstract statistics and detached policy arguments.

The image of the Salvadoran father and his daughter lying face down in the water of the Rio Grande, part of the US border with Mexico , is a heartbreaking testimony to the suffering behind the numbers.

Oscar Alberto Martinez and his daughter, identified by officials from El Salvador as Angie Valeria M., drowned in the currents of the Rio Grande on Sunday as they tried to slip into the United States.

Their bodies were found Monday near Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville , Texas. The child was 2 years old, The Associated Press reported.

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