The death toll from the sinking of a boat with Haitian migrants in the Colombian municipality of Acandí, located on the Caribbean coast and bordering Panama, has risen to four, while authorities continue to search for three missing people.
Acandí City Council detailed that the victims are a woman who was pregnant, an adult, a 6-year-old girl and a child under 2, while the people who have not yet been found are a man, a woman and a 7 month old baby.
During the rescue operation, carried out by the National Navy, nine people were rescued.
“Unfortunately we have a shipwreck where transnational migrants of Haitian nationality died. The boat was carrying 16 people, including four children,” said Sandra Julio, secretary of government of Acandí, a town located by the sea. Caribbean which is part of the jungle department of the Shocked.
The official explained that the boat left from the municipality of Turbo, in the neighboring department of Antioquia, and that the migrants had to be taken to Capurganá, a village that is part of Acandí, to cross on foot “el Tap de l “Darién to be able to reach Panama and continue his journey to the United States.”
“We call on the National Government, this is not a new case, these are cases that have been happening repeatedly in our territory,” he added in July.
Acandí Mayor Alexander Murillo noted that “people driving the boat are detained at the Capurganá Police Station.”
This fact recalls what happened on January 28, 2019 when 19 African migrants died in the sinking of a craft boat in the Caribbean very close to the remote village of Capurganá, where Pinacorra Bay is located and which is part of the municipality of Acandí.
The tragedy drew the attention of a group of investigators and prosecutors who, with the support of Migration Colombia and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), identified and located all members of the network involved in the deaths of migrants.
Thanks to the investigation, which included witnesses, as well as physical and technical evidence, the Prosecutor’s Office ordered the arrest of seven people who are accused of being part of this gang, who were captured in Capurganá and nearby towns.