DISTURBING

Dominican Republic Investigating After Boat With Decomposing Bodies Found

Investigators currently believe the victims were from Mauritania and Senegal, but are still working to determine their causes of death.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said they recovered the decomposed remains of at least 14 people onboard an abandoned ship off the Caribbean nation’s northern shore. Investigators believe the bodies belonged to individuals from Mauritania and Senegal, based on identification documents found near their remains. Investigators also recovered 29 cell phones and 12 packages of substances, believed to be either heroin or cocaine. Investigators are still working to identify the remains and determine their causes of death. In the past year, thousands of African migrants have died on boats attempting to make the arduous journey to the European Union, according to a report from Walking Borders, a migrant rights nonprofit. According to the group, at least 5,054 migrants died in the first five months of 2024 making the sea voyage from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands. In an incident in April, nine bodies were found on an abandoned boat discovered by Brazilian fishermen off the country’s northern coast. They were later identified as migrants from Mauritania and Mali, who set sail about three months earlier. In July, 89 people died after a boat carrying migrants from Mauritania to Europe capsized in the Atlantic, Reuters reported.