Brazilian authorities bury deceased migrants who drifted in African boat to the Amazon

By JULIA DIAS CARNEIRO and ALAN K. GUIMARÃES
Associated Press

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region have been buried in a cemetery in Belem, Para state’s capital. Fishermen off the coast of Para found a boat adrift on April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. The deceased were buried in a secular ceremony Thursday organized by a number of groups involved in their recovery, as well as Brazilian police, navy and civil defense agencies. A tropical rain fell as their coffins were lowered into graves dug into the earth, and those present watched in respectful silence.