An Indian family was among the eight people who drowned in the St Lawrence River while attempting to cross into the US from Canada illegally, authorities said on Friday.
Six bodies - members of two families of Romanian and Indian descent - were recovered by police on Thursday afternoon in a marshy area of Quebec near an overturned boat during an aerial search with the Canadian Coast Guard, according to Canadian news outlets CBC and CTV.
Police in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne said on Friday they have found the bodies of two more migrants, bringing the death toll to eight, including two children.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police Chief Shawn Dulude said authorities are still looking for 30-year-old Casey Oakes, who was last seen on Wednesday operating a boat that was found next to the bodies. Dulude said he didn't know if Oakes is alive or not, adding that he is a person of interest.
The territory is known for being a transit point for the trafficking of humans and contraband because of its location. And in February, police in Akwesasne reported an increase in human smuggling into the Mohawk territory.
Police say there have been 48 incidents of people trying to cross illegally into Canada or into the US 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.
“Weather conditions in the area were rough Wednesday night,” said Lee-Ann O'Brien, deputy chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service
“This is a heartbreaking situation, particularly given the young child that was among them,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “We need to understand properly what happened, how it happened and do whatever we can to minimise the chances of this ever happening again.”
Trudeau and US President Joe Biden announced a plan last week to close a loophole to an immigration agreement that allowed thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to move between the two countries along a back road linking New York state to Quebec.
The deal closing an illegal border crossing point about 105km (66 miles) east of Akwesasne took effect on Saturday. O'Brien said it has nothing to do with the closure of the Roxham Road illegal crossing into Canada.
(With PTI inputs)