A newly-built chunk of Trump's border wall blew over in heavy wind and landed in Mexico

Rosie Perper
Updated

  • A portion of President Donald Trump's border wall blew over on to the Mexican side due to strong winds, according to NBC News-affiliate KYMA.

  • Video of the event showed the border wall section swaying in the wind as crews tried to stabilize it.

  • The section of the wall was under construction as part of Trump's signature policy. It replaced existing wall rather than extending the overall coverage any further.

  • A Customs and Border Protection agent told CNN that the wall was newly installed and had been set in concrete that had not yet cured.

A portion of President Donald Trump's border wall blew in strong winds and fell into Mexico, according to NBC News-affiliate KYMA.

The border wall collapsed around midday local time on Wednesday, and landed on a row of trees, according to police in Mexicali, a town on the Mexico-California border.

Trump border wall
Trump border wall

Screenshot/KYMA

The fallen length of wall was around 130 feet long.

Agent Carlos Pitones of the Customs and Border Protection sector in El Centro, California, told CNN that the wall was newly installed and had been set in concrete that had not yet hardened.

According to CNN, the National Weather Service recorded wind gusts up to 37 mph when the wall fell down.

Mexicali map
Mexicali map

Google Maps/Business Insider

Video showed the border wall section swaying in the wind as crews tried to stabilize it.

It was being put up as part of Trump's signature policy to reinforce and extend the physical barrier diving Mexico from the US.

His original ambition to swiftly erect a full new barrier along the entire 1,954-mile border has been repeatedly scaled back.

This section of wall was being built to replace a part of the border that already exists.

According to KYMA, nobody appears to have been hurt by the collapse.

In January, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was preparing to divert $7.2 billion from the Pentagon's budget to pay for wall-building.

Trump replaced a decaying portion of the border partition with a 14-mile stretch of 18- to 30-foot slatted fence in September.

When Trump visited the $147-million border wall replacement project in Otay Mesa, California, he called the design "amazing" and signed his name in Sharpie pen.

But Trump's border plans have faced criticism both for their cost and effectiveness.

A video that went viral in December showed people easily sliding down the border wall slats like a fireman's pole before running away as a Border Patrol vehicle pulls up.

Other videos have emerged showing people as young as eight-years-old scaling an 18-foot replica of the wall. One man was able to climb while juggling.

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