New Delhi: Four Indian nationals, including an infant, died while trying to enter the US from Canada.
According to a PTI report, a family of four succumbed due to exposure to cold weather on the Canadian side of the border with the US.
The family was apparently trying to get into the US illegally.
The bodies of two adults, one teenager and a baby were found near Emerson in Canada, close to the border with Minnesota in the US.
Union External Affairs minister S Jaishankar expressed his shock on coming to know of the incident.
“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,” the minister tweeted.
Reuters reported that US authorities have arrested and charged a man named Steve Shand for human smuggling of Indian nationals from Canada.
US patrolling personnel had come across five more Indians traveling on foot, one of whom was carrying a backpack belonging to a family of four who had been separated from the group as they were all trying to cross the border, the report further said.
Canadian authorities found the bodies of the separated quartet 40 feet from the border.
