Jan. 30 (UPI) — A vessel drifting in the Caribbean Sea contained 19 badly decomposed bodies, authorities in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis announced on Wednesday.
The vessel was sighted while drifting in the waters near Nevis Island, which prompted the St. Kitts and Nevis Defense Force Coast Guard to respond.
The Coast Guard intercepted the vessel around noon local time on Wednesday and towed it to St. Kitts for further investigation.
Investigators found documents indicating at least some of those on board are from Mali, West Africa.
The vessel had been at sea for an extended period and those on board died long before the boat drifted into waters near Nevis Island, St. Kitts police officials said.
The bodies are so badly decomposed that investigators cannot determine which are male or female, the St. Vincent Times reported.
Local officials describe the vessel as a “boat” and said they don’t know if it might be connected to a similar boat containing dead bodies that was found near the coast of Trinidad last week, the Jamaica Star reported.
Officials with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard last week reported finding a pirogue carrying the remains of five unidentified people whose bodies were decomposing.
That vessel sank while being towed to Trinidad.
A similar tragedy occurred in May 2021 when a boat was found off the coast of Tobago that had drifted from West Africa while carrying migrants.
St. Kitts and Nevis are part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea and located about 170 miles southeast of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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