SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) – Forensic teams in the Dominican Republic are working to identify the remains of 14 West African people found aboard a boat that drifted near the Caribbean country’s northern coastline, a civil defense official said on Wednesday.
Of the 14 decomposed bodies of Senegalese and Mauritanian origin found on the boat 10 nautical miles off Rio San Juan, at least one was under 18 years old, state media RTVD reported, noting that authorities had also found 29 cell phones aboard.
Media published images of several battered national identification cards.
“We will continue to investigate this discovery together with the public prosecutors’ office to determine the causes and origin of this maritime tragedy,” the navy said in a statement a day earlier, saying the vessel’s make and origin were unknown.
A backpack was also found containing 12 packages of a substance authorities presumed to be cocaine or heroin, the navy said.
The Atlantic Ocean off the West African coast is among the world’s most dangerous maritime routes, with strong westerly currents and winds that can drive vessels far off course.
(Reporting by Paul Mathiasen in Santo Domingo and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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