Six Venezuelans and three Vietnamese among migrants drowned in the Caribbean of Panama

At least six VenezuelansThree Vietnamese and one Colombian are among ten migrants who drowned last July when a river flooded in a Caribbean area of ​​Panama, near the border with Colombia, the Central American country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on Friday.

«The Guna Yala Ombudsman’s Office today began handing over the bodies of migrants who drowned in Carreto. Of the 10 victims, 8 have been identified by relatives. Forensic test results are expected to confirm the identity of 2. They are 6 Venezuelans, 3 Vietnamese and 1 Colombian,” the Panamanian Prosecutor’s Office reported through X.

Thus, eight of the ten deceased migrants have already been identified by their relatives while the identity of the remaining two is still pending., At the same time, the Public Prosecutor’s Office began handing over the bodies rescued on July 27 from a difficult-to-access area after several days of work.

The bodies of these migrants were found on July 24, although according to press reports the incident could have occurred a week earlier since the authorities are considering the theory that they were buried near a town by criminal groups to cover up their situation.

The migrants died due to a river flood at a point on the “Carreto route” in the Panamanian Caribbean, which is more expensive because it shortens the crossing through the Darien jungle, the common border with Colombia, which is used as a migratory route to reach North America.

Along that route, passers-by pay up to $550 to take a boat from Capurganá, Colombia, to the community of Carreto, and then walk for two to four days through the jungle to reach the indigenous community of Canaán Membrillo, according to information from 2023 from the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which was providing services in Darién until its operating permit was renewed this year.

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