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VENEZUELA-TRINIDAD
Venezuelan migrant shipwreck death toll rises to 28
CARACAS, Dec 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – At least 28 Venezuelan migrants
died when a boat heading for Trinidad and Tobago sank, Attorney
General Tarek William Saab said on Thursday.
The boat left Guiria in the northeastern state of Sucre on December
6 but never reached its destination.
The first bodies started appearing last Friday while coastguards
performed routine patrols.
Over the weekend, 14 bodies were recovered either at sea or washed
up on beaches.
“The number has reached 28 right now, of which 26 have been
identified,” said Saab.
It is believed there were around 30 people aboard the boat.
Boats that are barely sea-worthy and loaded with Venezuelan
migrants fleeing an economic crisis that has left millions in abject
poverty often leave Guiria heading for Trinidad, which is about 10
kilometers (six miles) off the coast of Venezuela.
Around 100 people disappeared trying to make the crossing between
2018 and 2019.
Saab said each migrant had paid $150 to what he described as a
human-trafficking ring for their passage.
He has ordered the arrest of 10 people. The boat owner and the
owner of the farm from which the boat left have been arrested and
charged with people-trafficking.
The government has also ordered the arrest of seven members of the
National Guard for extorsion linked to the tragedy.
The United Nations estimates that five million Venezuelans have
left the country since 2015 with Venezuela wracked by economic and
political crises.
Some 25,000 of those have gone to Trinidad, a dual-island country
of 1.3 million.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2349hrs