Indian Family Among Eight Found Dead Near Canada Border While Attempting To Illegally Enter US

A total of eight people believed to be from two families, one Romanian and the other Indian, were found dead along the US-Canada border while attempting to the country illegally.

Initially, on Thursday, six bodies were found in a marsh near the St Lawrence River in a Native Canadian reservation in Quebec, and some of them are "believed to be citizens of India" who "are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the US from Canada".

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Indian, Romanian families die on US border

Later, on Friday, two more bodies were found on the US side by the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS). One was of a woman believed to be an Indian citizen and the other was of an infant of Romanian descent with a Canadian passport.

The identities of those whose bodies were found were not revealed.

Boat too small to carry them

According to officials, the two families were attempting to enter the US illegally on a boat, which capsised in the marsh killing all the occupants.

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Kevin Sturge Lazore, captain of the Akwasasne Fire Department's Station 3, said the search team found a small boat with its hull dented on the bottom as if it had hit ice or rock.

Death of Indians on US border

The deaths once again show the risks some people are willing to take to reach the US illegally.

Recently there has been an increase in fatal incidents involving Indian nationals who try to enter the US illegally from the Canadian side, often on boats or walking on for kilometres in sub-zero temperatures.

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In January last year, a family of four Indians was found frozen to death in Manitoba near the US border along Minnesota state.

Last April, six Indians were rescued from the St Regis River by US Border Patrol agents after US authorities were alerted by the AMPS that a boat was sinking close to the US border.

Last August, seven people from Gujarat were detained by US authorities when they illegally entered the US from Quebec.

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Paying with life for American dream

In December, a Gujarat man had died after falling from the border wall while trying to enter the US from Mexico.

Brijkumar Yadav, his wife, and their three-year-old son attempted to reach the US by climbing the border wall in Tijuana.

However, Yadav could not scale the concrete wall with metal plates and barbed wires and fell off it, killing him on the spot.

Yadav's wife also fell from the wall but landed 30 feet on the San Diego side.

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