The eight people — including two children — who were found dead in the St. Lawrence River near Akwesasne, Que., were likely trying to cross into the United States from Canada, authorities said Friday.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude said in an update Friday afternoon that two more bodies were pulled from the waters, bringing the total death count to eight. Akwesasne straddles the Canada-U.S. border and parts of the territory are in Ontario, Quebec and New York state.
The migrants were part of two families, one of Romanian descent but whose members included Canadian citizens. The other family was composed of citizens from India.
Among the dead are a child under the age of three and an infant, who both have Canadian passports but are believed to have been part of the Romanian family.
Dulude said police are still searching for Casey Oakes, a 30-year-old resident from Akwesasne. He remains missing and investigators are asking for information that could lead to his whereabouts.
Oakes’ boat was discovered not far from the bodies, but police could not say if the two events are related. Oakes does not have a criminal record, according to police.
The first body was found around 5 p.m. Thursday in a marsh area during an air search, according to police. A total of six bodies were discovered that night.
The area continued to be canvassed by a police marine unit with the help of the Canadian Coast Guard, the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department and Quebec provincial police. On Friday afternoon, police confirmed the bodies of two more people were found.
Authorities said 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.
Dulude said the eight people who died are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the United States from Canada.
Abram Benedict, Grand Chief for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, said his community continues to be exploited by criminals who help people to cross into the U.S.
“The human trafficking element of this will likely continue for the foreseeable future,” he told reporters.
He said the fact the territory crosses two provincial boundaries and an international border “makes it extremely challenging for our police services … so we’ll continue to lobby both governments — Canada and the United States — to continue providing us the resources to make our community safe; so that these incidents don’t happen again, so that we’re not being exploited by organized crime.”
In the meantime, post-mortem and toxicology tests have been ordered to determine the cause of the deaths. Police say they are attempting to identify the victims and determine their status in Canada.
Earlier Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted to the discoveries by telling reporters in Moncton, N.B. that “our hearts go out to the families of the individuals who perished; this is a heartbreaking situation, given the young child that was among them.”
Quebec Premier François Legault described the deaths as a “horrible tragedy.”
“My thoughts are with the families, loved ones and community,” he wrote on Twitter.
— with files from Global’ Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press
Comments