19 People Found Dead on Boat Near Caribbean Island, Investigation Is Underway: Police

Mar. 15, 2025

A vessel belonging to the St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard.Photo:St. Kitts Nevis Coast Guard/Facebook

St. Kitts Nevis Coast Guard/Facebook

Police in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis are launching an investigation after 19 people were found dead on a vessel floating off the nation’s coast.

According to a press release, theSt. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guardreceived a report just before noon local time on Wednesday, Jan. 29, about a partially-sunken vessel drifting southwest of Nevis. Police towed the boat to the coast guard base where they discovered that 19 dead bodies were on board.

“It was a fishing vessel, which is not typically found in the Caribbean," Police Commissioner James Sutton told theAssociated Pressof the boat. “We are not certain, but we believe that this vessel originated off the West African coast.”

Royal St. Christopher & Nevis Police Force

Investigators said that they believe the vessel had been drifting for a long period of time because the bodies were in the advanced stages of decomposition. Police also determined that all of the deceased passengers had died before the boat drifted into St. Kitts and Nevis waters, per the press release.

A number of people onboard had identification documents from the West African country of Mali, located about 3,850 miles away from St. Kitts and Nevis, per the press release.

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Sutton told AP that identifying the bodies could prove difficult due to the decomposition.

source: people.com