'Mummies' on immigrant boat

BRIDGETOWN - Barbados has called in international police force Interpol to help identify the mummified bodies of 11 West Africans found on a yacht that may have been drifting for months.

A fisherman reported the vessel adrift off the Caribbean island's Ragged Point on April 29, and dried-out human remains were found on board.

Tests indicated the young men, thought to have been part of a group of about 50 immigrants who lost their way while heading for Spain's Canary Islands from the Cape Verde Islands, died of starvation and dehydration.

Barbados Attorney-General Dale Marshall said an assessment team from Interpol had arrived and was examining the remains.

Senegalese in Europe and elsewhere have been in contact with Barbados to determine if any of their relatives are among the dead.

The Nation newspaper reported a note had been found from one of the men: "I would like to send to my family a sum of money. Please excuse me and goodbye. This is the end of my life in this big Moroccan sea."

- REUTERS