19 people were found dead in a drifting vessel off the coast of Nevis; an inquiry is currently underway

By Lucas

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19 people were found dead in a drifting vessel off the coast of Nevis; an inquiry is currently underway

Authorities in the eastern Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis said Thursday that they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of at least 19 bodies drifting at sea.

On Wednesday, at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time, the St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard responded to a report of a drifting vessel off the coast of Nevis. The partially submerged boat contained decomposing human remains. It was towed to St. Kitts, where police and medical personnel are conducting investigations.

“It was a fishing vessel, which is not common in the Caribbean,” Police Commissioner James Sutton told the Associated Press. “We are not certain, but we believe that this vessel originated off the West African coast.”

According to Sutton, officials are now faced with the difficult task of determining the exact number and identification of the bodies. He said the advanced state of decomposition made it difficult.

This is the first such find in recent memory in the twin-island nation.

In August, forensic authorities in the Dominican Republic worked to identify the remains of at least 14 mostly decomposed bodies discovered on an abandoned vessel 10 nautical miles off the country’s north coast. According to documentation discovered alongside the bodies, the 14 skeletons appeared to belong to people from Senegal and Mauritania.

In 2007, three bodies believed to be from North Korea were discovered in northern Japan, two days after authorities discovered a dilapidated empty boat, according to coast guard officials.

The coast guard reported that a Japanese fishing boat discovered a male body floating off the coast of Sakata in Yamagata prefecture, and two more bodies washed up on a nearby beach an hour and a half later. The bodies were decomposed, but one had a lapel pin that appeared to be North Korean.

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