The search is expected to continue today after six bodies were discovered Thursday in the St. Lawrence River near Akwesasne, Que. The Quebec provincial flag flies in Ottawa on June 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
QUEBEC – Authorities in the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne say an infant is missing after the bodies of six migrants of Indian and Romanian descent were pulled from the river Thursday.
The bodies, including that of a second child under three, were found in the St. Lawrence River in the community that straddles the Canada-U.S. border.
Lee-Ann O’Brien, deputy chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service, says the victims were trying to enter the United States illegally from Canada.
She told reporters today the six people were from two families, one of Romanian descent and the other composed of Indian citizens.
O’Brien says police found a Canadian passport belonging to a missing infant with the Romanian family, adding that the deceased child was also a Canadian citizen.
She says a small boat was found near the bodies, and the search is ongoing for the missing child and any other people who may have been with the two families.
Akwesasne police say there have been 48 incidents of people trying to cross illegally into Canada or into the United States through the Mohawk territory since January, and most of them have been of Indian or Romanian descent.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on March 31, 2023.
