Record death toll at U.S.-Mexican border

TUCSON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The number of illegal immigrants who died crossing the southern border into the United States hit a record 460 last year, the U.S. Border Patrol reports.

More than half -- 261 people -- died while crossing the Arizona deserts, the busiest illegal immigrant corridor along the nation's 2,000-mile southern border, The Los Angeles Times reports.

The total from Oct. 1, 2004, through Sept. 29, 2005, surpassed the previous record of 383 deaths in 2000.

The death toll was driven higher by more than 30 consecutive days of 100-degree-plus temperatures in parts of Arizona, according to the Border Patrol.