
Hundreds of Central American migrants attempted to cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico en masse on Monday, but were met by ranks of Mexican federal police who blocked them from entering the country.

The standoff on the riverbank followed a more violent confrontation that occurred on the nearby bridge over the river the night before, when migrants tossed rocks and used sticks against Mexico police. One migrant was killed Sunday night of a head wound, but the cause was unclear.

While migrants on the bridge had appeared to be preparing for a second day of confrontations early Monday, instead they tried the route taken by the first caravan 10 days ago after it, too, was blocked: to the river below.

The first, larger caravan made it across the river by wading or on rafts, and now is advancing through southern Mexico.

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Hundreds of Central American migrants are seen on Monday attempted to wade through the brown waters of the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico

The caravan migrants are seen making their way through the river on Monday in Tecun Uman, Guatemala

A helicopter of the Mexican Police flies over members of the second migrant caravan, mostly Hondurans, as they cross the Suchiate River

Dust clouds are created by a Mexican Federal Police helicopter flying close to the Suchiate River in order to create a downwash force to discourage the migrants bound for the US border

A new group of Central American migrants bound for the US border, wade in mass across the Suchiate River that connects Guatemala and Mexico Monday

The first group of migrants was able to cross the river on rafts - an option now blocked by Mexican Navy river and shore patrols

Aerial view showing migrants reaching Mexico after crossing the Suchiate River from Tecun Uman in Guatemala to Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico

Young children made the perilous river crossing on the back of their older siblings and parents

But since that crossing, the Mexican Navy has begun patrolling the Suchiate River and Mexican police have taken up positions on the riverbank, insisting migrants register before entering and show travel documents that many do not have.

A Mexican helicopter hovered above a mass of several hundred migrants who had waded across the chest-high river Monday, apparently using the downdraft from its rotors to discourage them.

Earlier Monday, about 600 migrants had gathered on the bridge, where Mexican federal police had blocked one end. The migrants had gasoline bombs made of soft-drink bottles, and improvised PVC tubes to launch fireworks or other projectiles.

On Sunday, the migrants broke through border barriers on the Guatemalan side of the bridge, only to confront Mexican police, who blocked them from entering Mexico.

Baby strollers are seen being carried by migrants above the surface of the water during their river crossing Monday

Some migrants packed their belongings in black garbage bags to protect them from the water

Central American migrants form a human chain to help one another cross the Suchiate River, the natural border between Guatemala and Mexico

Migrants link hands for safety while crossing the Suchiate River from Tecun Uman to Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico, after a security fence on the international bridge was reinforced to prevent them from passing through

A migrant in the second caravan clutches his bag pack in the middle of the river Monday

A 26-year-old migrant was killed during the clash after being struck in the head by a rubber bullet, but Mexican officials have denied any responsibility for the man's death.

While the band of migrants was resting and reorganizing in Tepanatepec, Mexico, several hundred in another group broke through border barriers in the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman just as members of the caravan did more than a week earlier.

Those migrants clashed with Mexican authorities determined not to let the caravan grow or be repeated.

The new group gathered on the international bridge leading from Tecun Uman to Mexico. Guatemalan firefighters confirmed that 26-year-old Henry Adalid died from a head injury caused by a rubber bullet.

Migrants climb on the trailer of a truck as others wait in a line for a ride on the road that connects Tapanatepec with Niltepec, Mexico

A mass of water-logged humanity comes ashore onto the river bank in Mexico after an arduous crossing

Migrants walk next to Mexican police officers after they swam across the Suchiate River from Ciudad Tecun Uman in Guatemala to Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico

The migrants were met by hundreds of federal officers in riot gear on the river bank

Hundreds of members of the second migrant caravan, mostly Hondurans, walk into Mexican territory after crossing the Suchiate River on foot

Mexico has denied that its forces were responsible for Adalid's death

Central American migrants try to force their way through a customs gate at the border bridge connecting Guatemala and Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Sunday

Migrants wait in a slow-moving line to collect money transfers sent by relatives back home, as a caravan of Central Americans trying to reach the US border halts for a rest day in Tapanatepec, Oaxaca state, Mexico

This map shows the progress of the migrants as of Sunday, when a new caravan also departed from San Salvador

At a news conference late Sunday, Mexican Interior Secretary Alfonso Navarrete Prida insisted that his country's forces were not responsible.

He said that Mexican federal police and immigration agents were attacked with rocks, glass bottles and fireworks when migrants broke through a gate on the Mexican side of the border, but that none of the officers were armed with firearms or anything that could fire rubber bullets.

Navarrete said some of the attackers carried guns and firebombs.

'Mexico does not criminalize undocumented immigration,' he said.

Six police officers were injured, said Beatriz Marroquin, the director of health for the Retalhuleu region.

Guatemala's government said in a statement that it regrets that the migrants didn't take the opportunity of dialogue and instead threw stones and glass bottles at police.

Also on Sunday, about 300 Salvadorans departed from San Salvador hoping to make their way to the US as a group.

Meanwhile, some of the migrants in the first caravan, now estimated at 4,000 people, rested Sunday in the shade of tarps strung across the town plaza or picked up trash in Tapanatepec, population 7,500. Others soaked themselves in the nearby Novillero river.

Mexico's interior minister said federal police and immigration agents were attacked with rocks, glass bottles and fireworks. Pictured: A Honduran migrant is seen holding rocks

Migrants were left bloodied and bruised during the violent confrontation with Mexican federal police and immigration agents

Thousands of immigrants broke through the border fence between Guatemala and Mexico and crossed to Mexican territory Sunday

Tensions from a long trek through searing heat with tenuous supplies of food and other goods spilled over Saturday night when a dispute in a food line devolved into a beating. Many in the caravan have been on the road for more than two weeks, since the group first formed in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Raul Medina Melendez, security chief for the tiny municipality in Oaxaca state, said the town was distributing sandwiches and water to migrants camped in the central square Saturday night when a man with a megaphone asked people to wait their turn.

Some hurled insults at the man with the megaphone, then they attacked him, Medina said. Police rescued the man as he was being beaten and took him to a hospital for treatment, though his condition was not immediately clear.

On Sunday, several in the caravan took to microphones to denounce the attack.

'Is that the way we're going to always behave?' a woman from Honduras asked.

Others complained of trekkers smoking marijuana or warned that images of litter and uneaten food made them appear disrespectful.

The group planned to set out early Monday for Niltepec, 33 miles to the northwest in Oaxaca state.

Mexican federal police arrive to provide security, following some complaints by irate local residents regarding some of the migrants in Tapanatepec, Mexico

Migrants, part of the first caravan of 7,000 from Central America en route to the United States, wait in line for food donations in San Pedro Tapanatepec, Mexico, Sunday

The caravan still must travel 1,000 miles to reach the nearest US border crossing at McAllen, Texas.

The trip could be twice as long if the migrants head for the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, as another caravan did earlier this year. Only about 200 in that smaller group made it to the border.

Most of the migrants in the caravan appeared determined to reach the US, despite an offer of refuge in Mexico.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program Friday dubbed 'You are home,' which promises shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans who agree to stay in the southern Mexico states of Chiapas or Oaxaca, far from the US border.

Mexico's interior minister said Sunday that temporary identity numbers had been issued to more than 300 migrants, which would allow them to stay and work in Mexico.

The ministry said pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those who had joined the program and were now being attended at shelters.

He said 1,895 had applied for refugee status in Mexico.