Indian village mourns family who died in cold on US-Canada border

RELATIVES and neighbours of the ill-fated Indian family who died in extreme cold conditions near the US-Canada border last week mourned, saying the father failed to get a better-paid job in recent years, forcing them to undertake a risky journey supported by an illegal migrant network.

The family of four, including an infant, froze to death in Canada while allegedly trying to cross over illegally into the US. The four were identified as Jagdish Patel, 39, Vaishailben Patel, 37, and their children Vihangi, 11, and Dharkmik, 3.

It reportedly belonged to Dingucha village in Kalol tehsil of Gandhinagar district of the western Indian state of Gujarat, also the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to Indian daily The Indian Express, the family was said to be part of a group and had left for Canada with others from their village. Seven other people were identified by the US authorities though their identities were not revealed till an official confirmation.

Gandhinagar district collector Kuldeep Arya was quoted as saying by The Indian Express, “This is an unfortunate incident which we got to know only through the media and there is no official communication yet. In case there is any communication from the MEA (ministry of external affairs), we will facilitate at our level.”

In a criminal complaint which was filed in a court in the US state of Minnesota bordering Canada, John D Stanley, a special agent with the country’s department of homeland security, said all the foreign nationals spoke Gujarati, the language spoken in Gujarat, and most of them had limited or no English-speaking ability.

Stanley also said in his court filing in Minnesota that initials of three of the seven people detained as VD, SP and YP.

Few more families also said to be missing

Residents of the village from which the ill-fated family hailed said another three-four families were also believed to be missing.

“We have sent a mail to the ministry of external affairs for details, and photos of the dead for confirmation. We have also established contact with our friends in Canada who have reached Manitoba, but we are told that the Canadian authorities are not allowing them inside (the hospital) for confirmation,” a villager was quoted as saying by the daily.

A 47-year-old person named Steve Shand has been accused of smuggling the group of Indians into the US from Canada. The two persons who were arrested with Shand and were in his car have been identified as SP and YP. Stanley said five others were arrested in Pembina in the state of North Dakota, neighbouring Minnesota.

He also said that the area from which they were caught is known by the border officials as a high incident area for human smuggling.

The person identified as VD said the group had been walking for almost 12 hours and the family got separated from the group at night.

Canadian police found the bodies of the four family members “frozen just inside the Canadian side (Manitoba) of the international border”.

The temperatures reportedly dropped to -35C (-31F) on the night the Patel family tried to cross into the US on foot.

Investigation is underway in Canada regarding the death, “along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part”.

“One of the Indian nationals provided limited information to Border Patrol,” Stanley was quoted as saying, He added that “he reported that he paid a significant amount of money to enter Canada from India under fraudulently obtained student visa. He did not intend to study in Canada but rather illegally to enter the United States.”

The identities of the deceased were announced by Canada’s High Commission of India and later confirmed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The family were known to travel to Canada about 1- days ago on visitor visas, BBC reported.

According to a member of the village council, who did not want to be identified, family members there contacted Indian authorities after the Patels became unreachable five days ago.

While dangerous border crossings are more common in the US’s southern border with Mexico, such a tragedy in the north is rare.

The RCMP has launched an “extensive” investigation into how the Patels reached Canada, co-ordinating with the US and India.

It is also unknown so far if the Patels had family in Canada or the US.