Ariz. Desert Survivors Improve

Five survivors of the deadliest border crossing recorded in Arizona were released Sunday from the hospital into U.S. Border Patrol custody.

The five people were among the 26 illegal immigrants who were abandoned by smugglers east of Yuma on May 19.

Twelve people survived. Thirteen immigrants died before they were discovered. One teenage boy died on the way to the hospital.

Three survivors left Yuma Regional Medical Center on Saturday.

The four remaining survivors were listed in good condition Sunday afternoon. One of them had been in critical condition with kidney damage related to severe dehydration but was upgraded to good condition earlier in the day.

The Border Patrol is holding the surviving men and teenage boys as material witnesses for their investigation of an immigrant smuggling operation. The smugglers remain at large.

Agency officials said they also must check the immigrants for any past deportations or criminal activity before they will be turned over to Mexican authorities and sent home.

The immigrants were part of a group from the Mexican states of Veracruz and Guerrero who crossed the border into southern Arizona in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

The immigrants spent the next five days in temperatures that routinely topped 110 degrees.

Border Patrol agents discovered the first five survivors--sunburned, dehydrated and clinging to life--Wednesday. Those survivors told the agents others were in the desert, prompting a massive search that found the bodies.