A family of four who died just 12 meters away from Canada and the United States borders has been identified by several Indian newspapers.
Jagdish Patel, 35, his wife, Vaishali Patel, 33, and their children Vihanga, 12, and Dharmik, 3, from Dingucha village in India are reportedly the group with 11 Indian nationals who set off to cross into the U.point 290 |
S.point 2 | and became separated from and died.point 32 | Seven other Indian nationals were arrested in the U.point 76 | S.point 78 | as part of the border crossing attempt.point 111 | 1
The bodies of the said family were found last Thursday by RCMP officers. A lot of questions are still not answered about the family’s reason for entering the borders in the middle of the night when the temperature was as low as -35C and on how did they manage to enter the Canadian Border. It’s one of the questions that Hemant Shah, an Indo-Canadian living in Winnipeg found shocking.
Shah said: “For the last five days we don’t venture out for more than 5 minutes because of the cold. You can’t imagine how the kids would be crying during this. What they have gone through when I realized my heart is crying.”
With two other persons, he organized a Zoom prayer for the Patel Family, which he said that about 150 members of the Indo-Canadian community has attended. Now Shah says he wants Canadian officials to work to find out what happened to the four deceased Patels, and how to prevent it from happening again.
Ash Patel, another Winnipeg man originally from Gujarat, helped organize the memorial prayer, he said: “I’ve lived in Canada for 18 years but I’ve never heard of this happening.”
The New Indian Express reported that Jagdish Patel was a teacher in India and that the Patels’ extended family did not know the four planned to travel to the U.S. from Canada.
Several Indian newspapers from the country noted that Dingucha has been a part of the magnets for human-smuggling operations, with people offering locals risky opportunities to illegally enter the U.S. and experience a version of the American dream.
Canadian authorities believe the deaths of four Indian nationals found steps away from the Canada-US border are connected to a human smuggling scheme. The family was found in a field north of the border on January 19.
Steve Shand, a resident from Florida, has been charged with human smuggling after authorities found him driving a 15-person van along the border, on the same night the Patels were found.
Mr. Shand had two Indian nationals as passengers in his car and cases of food and water in his boot. With all of the human – smuggling charges, Shand has agreed to make his way back to Minnesota court appearances.
The authorities believe he is a part of a larger organized human – smuggling ring. Beyond last week’s incident, the complaint against Shand details two previous suspected smuggling events. In recent weeks, U.S. Border Patrol agents found footprints in the snow.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police special agent said the Patel family first arrived in Canada on January 12, on a flight from Toronto.
From there, they made their way west to Manitoba, before traveling to Emerson a border town on or around January 18. Their bodies were found the next night.
No vehicle was found near the Canada-US border in Emerson, suggesting that someone drove the Patel family to a drop-off point before they began their journey on foot. RCMP said they are working with U.S. officials on ongoing investigations.
Mr. Grewal from India Association said that he hopes that other families contemplating a similar journey may now reconsider. He said: “If there’s anybody else who’s in the same boat, who’s trying to cross… Don’t go, don’t listen to people who are telling you they can help.”
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