Eleven bodies found on boat washed up on Caribbean island

WASHINGTON: A boat carrying the remains of 11 people washed ashore on one of the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, police said, adding that they were investigating the situation.

Officers discovered the bodies on Monday after receiving a report of a “suspicious vessel found along the coastline,” the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said in a statement

The 14-meter-long (45-feet-long) vessel containing the bodies was found on the small island of Canouan, a tourist spot dotted with luxury hotels and white-powdered beaches.

Photos shared by police showed a small boat tipped on its side washed up on the sand.

“The remains were in an advanced state of decomposition, and some were not fully intact,” it said.

“Several passports were recovered at the scene, which appear to be from the Republic of Mali.”

Authorities were working to formally identify the bodies, which had been transported to the Caribbean nation’s capital Kingstown, the statement said.