Police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines said on Tuesday they discovered a boat on Canouan Island carrying the remains of 11 people, believed to be from Mali, though investigations to confirm their identities are ongoing.
“Several passports were recovered at the scene which appear to be from the Republic of Mali,” Superintendent Junior Simmons said in a video message. “The remains were in an advanced state of decomposition, and some were not fully intact.”
Local police received on Monday morning around 10:45 a.m. (1445 GMT) a report about the 45-foot vessel that washed ashore in Little Bay on Canouan, to the south of the archipelago Caribbean nation.
Simmons said the remains had been transported to mainland St. Vincent pending further forensic and investigative procedures.
The Mali Connection
In nearby St. Kitts and Nevis, authorities in January said they had discovered a vessel where they found the bodies of 19 people who they estimated had been at sea for a long period due to the advanced stage of decomposition.
They also found identifications suggesting some of those passengers also came from Mali, a landlocked West African nation some 6,200 km (3,850 miles) east across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Atlantic Ocean off the West African coast is among the world’s most dangerous maritime routes, with strong westerly currents and winds capable of driving vessels far off course.
Rohingya Boat Tragedy
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, two boats carrying some 514 Rohingya sank on May 9 and 10, carrying refugees who were thought to have left from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and Rakhine State in Myanmar.
Only 87 survivors were found, UNHCR said. The possible deaths of 427 people would make it the deadliest tragedy at sea involving Rohingya refugees so far this year, according to the agency.
That people chose to board boats during the annual monsoon season, which brings dangers such as strong winds and rough seas, reflected their desperation, the agency added.
(With inputs from Reuters)
