MARIGOT:--- The French Prosecutor Flavien Noailles who is leading the investigation on the boat tragedy that occurred in the Anguilla canal late Sunday night (June 30th, 2013) said in a press release late Wednesday night that some 26 persons were on the ill-fated boat that capsized in the Anguilla canal Sunday night. Noailles said that the first report showed that some 12 persons were rescued, three persons perished while another three were lost at sea.
Noailles said one more person was rescued at the end of the morning on July 2nd, he said that means 13 persons were rescued from the waters in the Anguilla canal, three are dead, and three are still missing. While Noailles said that there were 26 persons on board the ill-fated boat, he only gave accountability for 25 persons. SMN News reporter asked the prosecutor to clarify whether there were 25 people on board or 26. Noailles said that one of the persons that was on board the boat managed to reach the shores of St. Martin without anyone’s assistance. Therefore, he could not be registered as one of the rescued persons or missing persons. It should be noted that 14 of the 26 people that were on board “God is Good” survived in the boat mishap.
An investigation has been opened and is led by the Chief of the Homicide Department. One of the things this investigation has to determine is how the illegal immigrants entered St. Martin. So far, it has been determined through witness testimonies that most of the occupants on the boat arrived on St. Martin via the Princess Juliana International Airport at the beginning of June 2013. They came from Brazil and the Dominican Republic and their main goal was to go to Puerto Rico via St. Thomas or Saint John. However, the mission turned into a drama due to a broken water pump. Because of this, the back of the boat took on water. In total there were 26 people on the boat, six of them were rescued by a passing boat and not the search and rescue teams. It has been determined that of the other 20 people, 13 were rescued by the search and rescue teams, 1 swam to the shores of St. Martin on his own, three people perished, and three are still missing. Due to the heavy drifting from west northwest, the researchers could not locate exactly where the boat went down.
Noailles said the investigation will go to the very end until they have found all the persons that were involved in the bringing in of illegal persons to the island and transporting them to other destinations.
Some of the victims paid as much as $16,000 (USD) for the trip.
So far, two persons that were residing on St. Martin have been arrested and placed in garde à vue. Those two persons already appeared before a judge and their detention has been prolonged for another 48 hours. A third person who assisted with the transportation of the illegal persons was also arrested and placed in garde à vue. The third person was arrested sometime after midday on Wednesday.