Forensic authorities in the Dominican Republic worked Wednesday to identify the remains of at least 14 mostly decomposed bodies found on an abandoned vessel 10 nautical miles of its northern coast.
The Dominican Republic Navy said the 14 skeletons appeared to belong to individuals from Senegal and Mauritania, according to the documentation found next to the bodies.
Authorities are also working to determine the cause and time of the deaths and whether 12 packages of a substance found on the boat contained illicit drugs, presumably cocaine or heroin.
Cell phones and geolocation devices were also found on the boat, said the Navy, which released images of the abandoned boat, suspected drugs and phones.
In a statement, the navy said it "reiterates its commitment to safety and law enforcement in our territorial waters, and will continue to work diligently to clarify this unfortunate incident."
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the European Union territory is one of the most dangerous in the world. Boats that miss their destination can be swept away by Atlantic trade winds and currents from east to west, drifting for months. Migrants aboard often die of dehydration and malnutrition. Others have also been known to jump into the ocean out of desperation.
An Associated Press investigation published last year revealed that in 2021, at least seven boats from northwest Africa had been found in the Caribbean and Brazil, all carrying dead bodies.
The bodies found Tuesday in the Dominican Republic are being analyzed by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) in Santiago, the country's second largest city and near where the discovery was made, said Nairobi Viloria, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office.
Meanwhile, the substance found next to the bodies is being analyzed in laboratories operated by the country's anti-drug agency, said Carlos Devers, a spokesman for the National Directorate of Drug Control.
Abandoned vessels, or so-called ghost ships, holding dead bodies have been discovered across the globe.
Earlier this year, a small boat full of decomposing corpses was spotted by fishermen off Brazil's northeastern coast.
In 2023, authorities seized a so-called narco sub with two dead bodies and nearly three tons of cocaine aboard in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia.
The year before that, at least seven boats full of corpses washed up in Brazil and the Eastern Caribbean.
In 2017, three people believed to be from North Korea were found dead in northern Japan after authorities found a dilapidated empty boat.
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