The bodies of a man, a woman, a teenage boy and a baby were found near Emerson, Manitoba.
From preliminary data, US officials reported that the dead are believed to be a family from India, who were trying to cross into the US. Canadian police were informed that a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol team had arrested a group, who had crossed into an illegal border crossing.
Authorities said the group was “alone in the middle of a storm” and “faced not only cold weather but also endless fields, heavy snowfall and complete darkness.”
U.S. agents met with a group of five Indian nationals who said they had walked for 11 hours and were waiting for someone to pick them up.
One of them was carrying a backpack containing children’s clothes, toys and medicine. He said he kept it for a family of four, but that they “were separated at night”.
The so-called “irregular” crossings from the US to Canada – crossings outside official border crossings – increased dramatically around 2017, a phenomenon driven by a number of factors, including immigration policies set by former US President Donald Trump .
Canada banned such crossings at the start of the pandemic, with officials returning asylum seekers back to the US. The ban was lifted in November. Local officials in Emerson say it is rare to see people crossing from Canada south to the US.
