Investigators examining dead Haitian migrants

U.S. investigators are heading to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to look into the deaths of three Haitian migrants. TCI government officials said that the three Haitians died of dehydration after a detention center received about 250 Haitian migrants over the weekend. Pathologists from the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office were en route to the Turks and Caicos Islands since the island’s government has a contract with the South Florida medical examiner's office.

According to a U.N. officer who previously visited the detention facility, she is not surprised at the deaths since the center was nearly five times over capacity when the three migrants died:

“Grainne O'Hara, a senior protection officer for the United Nations refugee agency who visited the facility last month, said migrants are held in two small rooms with beds but no air conditioning, usually for up to 48 hours. She estimated the facility was designed to hold about 50 people.

"There's no question there are capacity problems in that center," O'Hara said in a telephone interview from Miami. "The risk remains because this is the only facility they have. It can happen again anytime."”

Sources- International Herald Tribune, radiojamaica.com, Hardbeatnews, MiamiHerald.com

Image- cleartrip.com