BRASÍLIA, Brazil: Brazil has reduced the death toll in suspected migrant boat tragedy from 20 to 9.
Fishermen found a boat off Brazil’s northern coast and discovered the bodies of nine people believed to be migrants, officials said Tuesday. The death toll was previously reported to be 20.
The small boat was spotted Saturday off a remote beach near the town of Braganca, in the state of Para.
In a statement, federal police said: “Documents and objects found with the bodies indicate the victims were migrants from Africa, namely the region of Mauritania and Mali, though there may also have been people of other nationalities”.
Police had initially believed the migrants were from Haiti, and put the death toll at 20.
But investigators later concluded there were eight bodies aboard the boat and another nearby, “in circumstances that suggest the victim belonged to the same group,” police said and added authorities were still investigating the identities of the victims and the time and cause of death.
