New Delhi: Four members of an Indian family, who froze to death near the Canada-US border last month, had walked for several hours on a freezing “lunar-like landscape” where night-time temperatures often drop below -35 degrees Celsius in winter, trying to cross into America illegally.
Jagdish Patel (39), his wife Vaishali (37), their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi and three-year-old son Dharmik were found frozen to death on January 19, about 10 metres from the Canada-US border.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described it as a “mind-blowing tragedy”.
The family was from Dingucha village in Gujarat. They had set off for Canada from Dingucha on January 10 with visitor visas, willing to make the dangerous journey into the US from there in the hope of a better life.
Many from his village have taken the risk before him to reach Canada or the US, helped by dubious local agents, who charge vast sums of money, and their global network. The agents are now under the scanner of law enforcement authorities, as part of a bigger investigation into a human trafficking racket.
Agents send desperate families to Canada on visitor or student visas, which they overstay illegally. Many families try to enter the US from Canada by illegally crossing the land border.
The Patel family, part of a larger group, arrived in Toronto on January 12, from where they reached Emerson, a small town on the Canada-US border.
Investigators said they were then given new coats and gloves, and dropped at a point from where they began the journey into America on foot at night. On January 19, the family was found frozen to death in the snow.
In the US and Canada, 13 agents allegedly involved in illegal trafficking from India have been detained following the deaths.
While Patel, his wife and children, who had probably got separated from a larger group, froze to death, seven others survived, investigators said.
US officials have arrested a man named Steve Shand (47) on charges of human smuggling.
Investigators were tipped off by a snowplough driver, who had helped free Shand’s van stuck during the blizzard. Shand came under suspicion as, according to investigators, it was the second time he had been in the area.
According to reports, officers then intercepted his van near the border crossing at Pembina, North Dakota. Two Indians were with Shand. Another group of five was intercepted later. All spoke Gujarati.
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