Infant killed after coast guard opens fire on boat carrying Venezuelan migrants
Also: Trinidad says Venezuelan migrant infant dies in border security operation (Reuters)
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Source: The Guardian
Infant killed after coast guard opens fire on boat carrying Venezuelan migrants
The baby’s mother was injured after the Trinidad and Tobago coast guard shot at the boat, later saying it fired in ‘self defence’
Joe Parkin Daniels
@joeparkdan
Mon 7 Feb 2022 21.28 GMT
A Venezuelan woman was shot and wounded and her nine-month-old baby was killed in her arms when Trinidad and Tobago’s coast guard opened fire on the boat carrying migrants fleeing their home country.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the coast guard said its personnel had opened fire “in self-defence” on Saturday after “aggressive manoeuvres” by the migrant craft when it was intercepted as it entered Trinidadian waters late on Saturday.
“The ramming effort by the suspect vessel which was larger than the ship’s boat caused the crew to fear for their lives and in self-defence they fired at the engines of the suspect vessel in an attempt to bring it to a stop,” the statement said.
When crewmen boarded the vessel, they found a group of migrants who had been hiding, including “one adult female who was holding an infant and who she indicated was bleeding … Regrettably, the infant was found unresponsive,” the statement said. The mother was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the statement.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/07/venezuela-immigrants-killed-trinidad-tobago-coast-guard
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Source: Reuters
February 7, 2022
4:32 PM EST
Last Updated 7 hours ago
Trinidad says Venezuelan migrant infant dies in border security operation
PORT OF SPAIN/CARACAS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago's Coast Guard said a Venezuelan migrant infant died in a security operation on Saturday when a vessel illegally crossed the maritime border, prompting the Caribbean nation to offer condolences.
In a statement on Sunday night, the Coast Guard said one of its patrol ships ordered the vessel to stop and later fired at the vessel's engines in an attempt to force it to halt, only later discovering that it was carrying migrants on board.
"Further checks discovered one (1) adult female who was holding an infant who she indicated was bleeding," the statement said, adding the woman was taken to a local health facility. "Regrettably, the infant was found unresponsive."
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said he had spoken with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez about the incident and hoped for better future cooperation between Trinidad's Coast Guard and Venezuela's National Guard.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trinidad-says-venezuelan-migrant-infant-dies-border-security-operation-2022-02-07/
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