RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
More than two weeks after a Venezuelan boat loaded with illegal migrants sank in the Boca de Serpiente on its way to Trinidad, Venezuelan authorities have confirmed the existence of 29 passengers.
An unofficial list of all the passengers was published in Venezuela’s Tane Tanae Delta news media.
Out of the 12 bodies found, two are still unidentified. So far 12 survivors have been found and seven people are still missing.
Last week, the Venezuelan Government appealed to people to come forward to identify the deceased and other possible passengers using personal identification signs such as tattoos and clothing.
Survivors have provided testimonies as well as the names of those whom they recognised on board the ship.
But the Venezuelan media said many people were reluctant to come forward in fear of being punished.
Venezuela’s Armed Forces have been on a mission to find those who have been facilitating human trafficking to Trinidad.
Last Monday, the governor of the Delta Amacuro State, Lizeta Hernández, had promised to take action against those who facilitated the illegal trip to Trinidad.
“We will not hide anything and the guilty must pay with the full weight of the law,” Hernández reportedly said.
The boatload of 24 migrants had been bound for Trinidad but capsized in a strait of the sea known as Boca de Serpiente (Snakes Mouth) around 4 am on April 22.
A Venezuelan commercial ship operating in the Boca which separates Venezuela from Trinidad rescued seven of the survivors.
On December 6, last year, 29 people died when a boat sank on December 6 about 20km (12 miles) from the coastal town of Guiria in the country’s northeastern state of Sucre.
The passengers had also been heading to Trinidad in search of a better life.
