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Authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands said, Sunday, that a boat drifting about a mile off Grand Turk Island was found with 20 people dead, including two children, on board.
Officials said investigators have ruled out an error but are still trying to determine what happened. The identities and origin of the dead are also under investigation.
Fishermen spotted the small boat Thursday morning and reported it to the Naval Branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, which towed it ashore.
Police communications officer Takara Payne said in a press release that investigators have played down tampering and were looking at other possibilities, without giving any details.
Police Commissioner Trevor Botting said the boat appeared to have come from outside the Caribbean and authorities did not believe its destination was from the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“Detectives are working with me to establish their identities and how they died,” Botting said.
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The Turks and Caicos Islands are often a magnet for desperate Haitians seeking to escape that poverty-stricken country and the territory has also been used as a transhipment point by human traffickers.
In June 2020, Srikagamukam Chelia, a Sri Lankan-born Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of human trafficking before a Turks and Caicos judge and was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He was extradited to Florida and sentenced from February 24 to 32 months in prison for conspiracy to smuggle people into the United States.
Chleh was arrested in August 2019 driving a boat carrying 158 people, including 28 Sri Lankans. They told investigators they were headed to the United States.
Map of Turks and Caicos Islands. Turks and Caicos Islands location map. (Photo: Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)/ Specific map of the Turks and Caicos Islands. (Photo: Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images).
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