News Headlines, English News, Today Headlines, Top Stories | Arth Parkash
India's external affairs minister, asked Indian envoys in the US and Canada to reply to the event 4 Indians died at US Border, officials investigating the cause
Thursday, 20 Jan 2022 18:00 pm
News Headlines, English News, Today Headlines, Top Stories | Arth Parkash

News Headlines, English News, Today Headlines, Top Stories | Arth Parkash

The death of four Indian citizens on the Canadian side of the US-Canada border due to exposure to extreme weather during a suspected people smuggling operation will be investigated by Indian and Canadian authorities.

S Jaishankar, India's external affairs minister, asked Indian envoys in the United States and Canada to reply to the event on Friday. The Indian nationals, including a child, were apparently abandoned near the US border and killed. A male teenager, an adult man, and an adult female, all of whom have yet to be identified, were among the dead.

Steve Shand, a 47-year-old Florida citizen, has been arrested for allegedly "smuggling undocumented foreign nationals."

Jaishankar reacted to the news with a tweet, “Shocked by the report that 4 Indian nationals, including an infant, have lost their lives at the Canada-US border. Have asked our Ambassadors in the US and Canada to urgently respond to the situation.”

The occurrence was regarded as a "grave tragedy" by India's high commissioner to Canada, Ajay Bisaria.

He said in the tweet, “An Indian consular team is travelling today [Friday] from @IndiainToronto to Manitoba to coordinate and help. We will work with Canadian authorities to investigate these disturbing events.”

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Manitoba received word on Wednesday that the US Customs and Border Protection (USBP) had captured a group of people who had crossed into the US from Canada near the town of Emerson.

According to the RCMP, one of the detained persons had goods intended for a newborn, but no infant was present with the group.

RCMP officials initially discovered the death of three people on the Canadian side of the border after conducting a search. The officers discovered the teen's body after continuing their search.

On the American side of the border, five Indian nationals were discovered quarter-mile south of the Canadian border on Wednesday. According to a statement from the US attorney's office for the District of Minnesota, they said they stepped crossed the border "expecting to be picked up by someone" and "estimated they had been strolling around for almost 11 hours."

According to the statement, one of the five Indians was carrying a rucksack for a family of four Indian nationals "who had previously walked with his group but had become separated during the night." Clothing for the kids, medication, a diaper, and toys were all in the backpack.

The four remains discovered frozen on the Canadian side of the border were reported to the USBP by the RCMP. The bodies were tentatively recognized as those of a family of four Indians who had been separated from the rest of the tribe.