New Delhi: Bodies of four Gujarati speaking Indian nationals, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the United States border. Reacting to this, India’s external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar expressed shock and asked the concerned ambassadors “to urgently respond to the situation”.

At this time, it is believed the victims all died due to exposure to the extreme cold weather. More info: https://t.co/3DuK2ogJMC pic.twitter.com/bEiRz6pNTE

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) January 20, 2022

The Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Thursday said that the bodies of four people — two adults, a teen and an infant, belonging to one family — were found on the Canadian side of the border near Emerson on Wednesday, with the authorities believing it to be a failed crossing attempt during a freezing blizzard.

“Shocked by the report that 4 Indian nationals, including an infant, have lost their lives at the Canada-US border. Have asked our Ambassadors in the US and Canada to urgently respond to the situation,” Jaishankar tweeted on Friday evening.

Terming it “a grave tragedy”, Ajay Bisaria, high commissioner of India to Canada, said an Indian consular team is travelling from Toronto to Manitoba, where the bodies were found, to coordinate and help in the investigation. “We will work with Canadian authorities to investigate these disturbing events,” tweeted Bisaria.

One of the adults had items meant for an infant but that no infant was with the group. A search was immediately launched on both sides of the border. #rcmpmb officers located four deceased individuals approx. 12 metres from the Canada/US border. pic.twitter.com/NCa8jaDBHn

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) January 20, 2022

Calling this an “unfortunate and tragic incident”, India’s ambassador to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said they were in touch with the local authorities. “A consular team from the Consulate General of India in Chicago is travelling today to Minnesota to coordinate with the investigating authorities and provide any assistance required,” Sandhu told news agency ANI.

According to Canadian news media TheStar, ‘The events began with a group of at least nine Indian nationals, all speaking Gujarati, being dropped off near Emerson, Man., on Tuesday night during a blizzard, according to court documents.By the next day, seven had been taken into custody south of the border, along with the American allegedly meant to pick them up on the U.S. side, while four had died, apparently from exposure to the cold, on the Canadian side of the border.’

RCMP Manitoba statement:

On the morning of January 19, 2022, RCMP officers with the Integrated Border Enforcement Team received concerning information from their counterparts in the United States.

Specifically, the information outlined that officers with the US Customs and Border Protection had apprehended a group of individuals who had crossed into the US from Canada, near the town of Emerson, Manitoba. Further, it indicated that one of the adults had items meant for an infant but that no infant was with the group.

Upon receiving this information at 9:23 am, a search was immediately launched on both sides of the border.

RCMP officers were already patrolling the area and the search began at 9:24am. Extensive patrols were conducted and, at approximately 1:30pm, the bodies of three individuals were located on the Canadian side of the border, approximately 10km east of Emerson.

They have been identified as:

An adult male;An adult female; andAn infant.

Fearing there may be additional victims, officers continued their search and located the body of an additional male, believed at this time to be in his mid-teens.

All victims were located approximately 12 metres from the US/Canada border.

At this very early stage of the investigation, it appears that they all died due to exposure to the cold weather. Work is underway to identify the victims and an autopsy has been scheduled to confirm the cause of death.

The search for any possible survivors or additional victims continued throughout the evening of Wednesday, January 19, and RCMP officers continue to patrol the area today. To date, no other victims have been located.

The RCMP will be conducting a thorough investigation and is working in close collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

All of our agencies are committed to a thorough and comprehensive investigation.