Jan. 13 (UPI) — Four migrants from Venezuela — two men and two women — were found dead this week after they washed ashore on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.
The four were on a boat from Venezuela Wednesday from the northwestern state of Falcon and sank about 30 miles off the country’s north shore near Curaçao’s Koraal Tabak area.
Local authorities said three of the four who died were deported from Curaçao last year because they were staying illegally on the island.
Two men believed to have been on the boat were found on the island in soaked clothes and arrested.
The Venezuelan migrants were part of a larger group of young people who tried to make the 43-mile crossing.
Crews on Thursday searched for bodies, assuming there were more than six aboard the boat that broke into pieces, but found none.
According to a Venezuelan newspaper, about 30 people were reported missing by family members after leaving San José de la Costa en route to Curaçao. Authorities say most of the passengers likely reached the island.
Amid a political and economic crisis, food and medicine in Venezuela are in short supply, unavailable or unaffordable. Last year, 300 people were arrested after trying to enter the Caribbean island nation unlawfully from Venezuela.
