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The wreck of a Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean, which occurred on the 6th, was caused by the overload with which this boat was traveling, which had capacity for 8 passengers and was carrying 41, the Government reported this Friday, without specifying whether the number of deaths increased or remains at 33.
Doubts about what happened to 33 Venezuelan migrants who drowned while trying to reach Trinidad and Tobago continue to grow. However, this Friday the government of Nicolás Maduro assured that everything was caused by “overload.”
“The main cause of the shipwreck was the overload of the rock-type vessel (rudimentary and discovered) made of fiberglass, which having a capacity for 8 people and a maximum weight of 2 tons, it carried 41 people and an approximate weight of 4 tons ”, says a statement from the Ministry of Interior and Justice.
See more: Nineteen Venezuelan migrants drowned in the Caribbean
The Government explains that the passengers “did not have life jackets” or other safety devices used in navigation, “coupled with the prevailing bad weather in the area at the time of the accident”, with waves that reached three meters high.
“The boat left an illegal place and covertly at night, with the intention of evading the maritime controls established by the security agencies,” the text continues, in which they cite “technical and forensic investigations” for these events.
This tragedy, according to the official note, occurred 11 nautical miles from the departure point, in the town of Güiria, in the Venezuelan state of Sucre (northeast), located about 140 kilometers from Trinidad and Tobago, the destination to which the boat aspired to reach shipwrecked.
Due to what happened, the Executive has had more controls in the area “so that these events do not happen again” and has provided “comprehensive social support to the affected families.”
further, the Government of Nicolás Maduro once again rejected that this fact be “used” by the Venezuelan opposition “In its attempt to affect the stability of the country, as well as the adequate coordination relations between the governments of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.”
Unfinished balance
It is the first time that the Government indicates that there were 41 travelers who were on board, after a first statement in which they assured that there were 21 passengers, information that was denied by the same Executive as the number of deaths increased. .
The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, last week offered the latest update on the death toll, according to which the total rose from 23 to 28.
See more: The Venezuelan migration drama, from walkers to rafters
Then, a source from the Prosecutor’s Office informed Efe that 33 bodies related to this shipwreck had been identified, so it is now unknown if the accident left more deaths or what happened to the remaining 8 people.
The authorities, who They arrested the owner of the boat and the owner of the hacienda from where it departed, are on the trail of four other civilians “who are directly linked to the case,” according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Also seven members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), the militarized police attached to the Armed Forces, are singled out for this case, so the Justice will request arrest warrants against them.
These agents, according to the inquiries, had arrested the owner of the boat when he was bringing several people from Trinidad and, in order not to report this fact to the Prosecutor’s Office, they charged him $ 4,500.
