AKWESASNE | Two small migrant families who intended to cross the St. Lawrence in search of a better life in the United States perished during a tragedy that will mark the spirits on the Mohawk reserve.
• Read also: A raging Saint-Laurent gave migrants no chance in Akwesasne
• Read also: Akwesasne police had warned migrants of the danger
• Read also: Eight dead in Akwesasne: “It’s probably the worst drowning experienced in our country”
On Friday, the bodies of an adult and a child were found on the marshy banks of the river, bringing the total of victims of the sinking to eight.
Authorities believe passengers from Canada were hoping to get to the United States by boat to avoid border services.
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
However, if the crossing only takes a few minutes on a clear day, the strong winds and the melting snow on Wednesday would have turned it into hell.
Especially since the migrants were on board a “very small” boat, which was not designed to transport so many people, according to the police.
- Listen to the Know It All segment in 24 minutes with Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet on QUB radio:
“There, the water is like a mirror, but [mercredi] there were three or four foot waves. Their boat didn’t have a chance,” laments Kevin Sturge Lazore, captain of the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Station 3 volunteer fire department.
According to our information, three members of a family from India as well as a Romanian father and his 3-year-old and 1-year-old children, born in Canada, are among the victims.
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
These tragic deaths come less than a week after the hardening of the Canada-US border and the closure of Roxham Road.
The Akwesasne police department nevertheless brushed aside any link between the two events, since the migrants were leaving Canada.
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
A helicopter dropping off an expert and search boats were in use Friday in Akwesasne.
The fact remains that the small Mohawk community finds itself at the forefront of the migration crisis, as 80 people have been intercepted there since January.
“We are like stuck in the middle, with all the trauma and the work that entails”, drops Mr. Sturge Lazore.
pure greed
Friday, the calm that usually reigned in the small indigenous community was disturbed by the noise of helicopters and the presence of many journalists.
“All these deaths are the result of greed,” gets carried away by Richard Oddo, who was going to take his grandson to school near the scene of the tragedy on Friday morning.
Screenshot, TVA Nouvelles
“The news shocked me, but I can’t say it surprised me,” said Ateronhiatakon Boots, a Mohawk elder.
Akwesasne has been a smuggling hub for decades, given its unique geographic location between two provinces and an American state. Public Security in Quebec and Ottawa, reacted quickly on Twitter on Friday morning.
“It’s commonplace for us here. […] We know that it is facilitated by people from here, often vulnerable young people who are attracted by the lure of profit, “said the head of the Mohawk Police Service of Akwesasne, Shawn Dulude, at a press conference.
As a result, the many small docks and boat ramps are used by both anglers and criminals.
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
Blue boat found
In addition, Casey Oakes, a 30-year-old man from the reservation, has also been missing since Wednesday evening.
Some remains were found near a blue pleasure craft belonging to him, and he was seen leaving Cornwall Island by boat on Wednesday evening for the last time.
“Mr. Oakes is a person we are interested in, [mais] nothing seems to indicate that it is linked to the investigation into the people who lost their lives in the waters of the river,” said Chief Dulude, however.
– With Olivier Faucher
THE VICTIMS
- Guilder Iordache
28 years - Evelyn Iordache
3 years - Eylen Iordache
1 year - Vidhiben Pravinkumar Chaudhari
23 years - Pravinbhai Veljibhai Chaudhari
49 years - Mitkumar Pravinbhai Chaudhari
20 years - Two other unidentified victims