Police identify two of eight dead who tried to enter the US from Canada By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Police and firefighters carry a bag from their search boat out of a swamp in Aquesasne, Quebec, Canada March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

David Shepardson

(Reuters) – Canadian police on Saturday identified two victims among eight bodies recovered from two families who died this week while trying to enter the United States from Canada by boat across the St. Lawrence River.

Mohawk Police Service Akwesasne said 28-year-old Florin Yordache died and was in possession of two Canadian passports of a two-year-old and a one-year-old, whose bodies were also found. Police also identified 28-year-old victim Christina (Monalis) Zenaida Yordache.

The police believe that the tragedy could have happened on Wednesday evening in bad weather, and they were looking for the missing defendant in the case. His boat was found near where the victims were found.

Deputy chief Lee-Ann O’Brien said Friday that the victims came from two families, one Indian and one Romanian, who were trying to enter the United States illegally.

President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed last week to ban asylum seekers from entering Canada through unofficial border crossings, which critics say could encourage refugees and migrants to be at greater risk when crossing the border.

Akwesasne police said the agreement to close all unofficial border crossings, including Roxham Road in Quebec, should not have counted here because the families were eager to leave for the United States, not Canada.

Last year, an Indian family of four froze to death in the Canadian province of Manitoba as they tried to enter the United States.

Akwesasne Nature Reserve is located on both sides of the St. Lawrence River, with land in Ontario and Quebec on the Canadian side and in New York.

More people are using Akwesasne’s territory to covertly try to infiltrate the United States, Dulude said: There have been 80 interceptions this year, and most of them were Indians or Romanians.