4 Indians among 8 Migrants Drowned in River Near US-Canada Border

At least eight persons including four Indians drowned in the St Lawrence river while attempting to enter the US from Canada illegally. The bodies were found in a marsh on the riverbank near Akwesasne. Another person is still missing.

According to Canadian police, the deceased are believed to be of two families of Indian and Romanian descent. They were trying to illegally cross into the United States from Canada. Among them were two children under the age of three.

Police are working with Immigration Canada to identify the victims and notifying the next of kin. They are also increasing surveillance on the river.

Police recovered two bodies from the river on Friday, after discovering six bodies and an overturned boat during a missing person search on Thursday afternoon, CBC News reported.

Akwesasne police say there have been 48 incidents of people trying to cross illegally into Canada or into the United States through the Mohawk territory since January, and most of them have been of Indian or Romanian descent.

In January 2022, the bodies of four Indians, including a baby, were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-US border. In April 2022, six Indian nationals were rescued from a sinking boat in the St Regis river, which runs through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.