(Montreal) A coroner concludes that a 44-year-old Haitian found dead in January 2023 after trying to cross the border into the United States in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle probably suffered from hypothermia before drowning in shallow waters.
Posted at 1:35 p.m.
Morgan Lowrie
The Canadian Press
Coroner André-H. Dandavino recalls in his report that Fritznel Richard was found on January 4, 2023 in a ditch containing 45 centimeters of water on the demarcation line at the border, but on the Canadian side.
The report indicates that Mr. Richard had been living in Montreal for two years, but wanted to join his wife in the United States and attempted to cross the border on foot through fields, near Roxham Road, on December 23 2022.
The coroner points out that there was a snowstorm that evening and that Mr. Richard called his wife and told her that he was cold, that he was tired and that his legs and feet were frozen. . Moments later, his wife heard him fall and the line went dead.
-Dr. Dandavino notes that Mr. Richard was dressed warmly, but likely still suffered from hypothermia, which could have caused him to lose consciousness and drown.
The coroner also concluded that it was an accidental death.
“This death demonstrates all the dangers posed by attempts to illegally cross the Canada-US border in rural areas outside border crossings,” underlines Coroner Dandavino.
Swiss
