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A boat with 20 decomposed bodies found off coast of Brazil

A boat with 20 decomposed bodies found off coast of Brazil

Rescue workers tow a boat with decomposed bodies found by fishermen.

Brazilian police and firefighters established a boundary in the northeastern region of Para on Sunday (April 14), where a boat carrying decomposing bodies was docked.

This was in response to the discovery made on Saturday (April 13), following reports of a boat found with 20 decomposed bodies off the coast of the northern Brazilian state.

The Brazilian federal prosecutor's office and the federal police of Para State have launched investigations into the matter.

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Brazilian federal prosecutors office said that some local Para news reports claim there could be up to 20 bodies on the boat and that they were Haitian migrants.

The office announced it is opening a criminal and civil investigation into the incident.

The boat was taken to the shore in the municipality of Braganca on Sunday. The bodies were taken to the Forensic Medical Institute (IML) in Braganca for identification work.

Forensics will also be carried out on the boat. The number, nationality and cause of death of the victims is not yet known, federal police confirmed.

This is notthe first time that vessels carrying dead bodies were spotted by fishermen on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean. In 2021, at least seven boats full of corpses washed up in Brazil and the Eastern Caribbean.

(With inputs from agencies)