MADRID: A Senegalese boat carrying the mummified bodies of 11 passengers has been found off the coast of Barbados, the Spanish daily El Pais reported yesterday.
Documents found on board indicate that the boat set sail with 37 African migrants on board.
Investigators believe they died as they drifted for three months from the Cape Verde archipelago, near Senegal, to the island of Barbados on the other side of the Atlantic, with those who survived longest throwing the bodies of their weaker fellow passengers overboard.
The small pleasure boat was discovered at the end of April by a Barbadian fisherman and had apparently been towed from Cape Verde by a large ship. Barbadian police found a cut-off cable attached to the boat.
Investigators suspect the appearance of a plane or military vessel may have frightened the crew of the larger ship into abandoning the smaller boat to the mercy of the currents.
The Senegalese and Malian migrants had apparently drifted for around three months, covering 2,800 nautical miles.
The 11 bodies were described as being in a state of mummification, with their clothes stuck to their skin. They did not display any signs of violence, but could not be identified.
On board investigators discovered the telephone number of a Senegalese who had remained in the country, and who said the passengers on the boat were hoping to reach Brazil. – AFP |
