The coastguard of St Kitts and Nevis found 13 decomposing bodies on a boat drifting off the coast, days after five bodies were found in a separate vessel near Trinidad and Tobago. The two incidents that happened within days of each other have raised a concern, but authorities have yet to confirm whether there is any connection between the two or if they have identified the deceased.
Deputy commissioner of the police in St Kitts and Nevis Cromwell Henry stated that the remains found on Wednesday were in the final stages of decomposition. His body and those of the females and males victims’ ages cannot be ascertained. A captainless boat was towed to shore after an investigation launched.
On Saturday, a case of a similar nature occurred on the coast when five bodies aboard a skiff were found by the coast guards off Trinidad and Tobago. The vessel was reported to be in a bad state, and sank after being towed to shore. The authorities explained that this vessel has a “striking resemblance” to another which had earlier been found in 2021, and inside it was the remains of 15 people. It is speculated that the boat found in 2021, and the one on Saturday could have come from the African coast carrying distressed migrants.
Investigations are ongoing and whether these two finds are connected or whether there are separate tragedies, it will take the authorities to decide.