The Mexican Government says it will erect solar-powered rescue towers that glow in the dark to help migrants lost along the most desolate stretches of the 3,200-kilometre (2,000-mile) border with the US.

The 30-metre-high towers will be visible from up to 10km (6 miles) away, the head of the National Institute of Migration said.

Felipe de Jesus Preciado Coronado said Mexico's rescue squad would check the towers every two hours.

More than 300 illegal migrants die each year while attempting to cross the border - most from exposure or drowning.

Crossing points

Mr Preciado Coronado said the first of 10 towers planned for this year would be erected by the end of June in Sonora, in the Altar desert, across the border from the Arizona desert.

The crackdown on migrants has led them to seek remote crossings

The others will be installed in some of the most dangerous spots used by migrants trying to get into the US.

The so-called Beta towers will also have supplies of drinkable water.

Mexican officials said they hoped similar towers could be installed on the American side of the border.

On the Mexican border with California, Texas and Arizona, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants try to cross into the US every month.

Recent efforts by the US authorities to beef up the border at the most popular crossing points have increasingly caused migrants to resort to more remote and often more hostile desert areas.