Four members of a family who died just 12 meters from the Canada-U.S. border in unforgiving winter conditions have been identified by several Indian newspapers.

The family has been identified as,
35yrs old Jagdish Patel and his wife, Vaishali Patel, 33, alongside their children Vihanga, 12, and Dharmik, 3.

The family who are from the Indian village of Dingucha village reportedly set off to cross into the U.S. with a group of 11 Indian nationals. The Patel’s became separated from the group and died. The bodies were found last Thursday by RCMP officers, but the Mounties have not yet confirmed their identities, citing the need to inform their next of kin.

Much remains unknown about the family and their bid to cross the border: how they entered Canada, how the alleged smuggling ring they worked with operated, and why they so urgently wanted to get to the U.S. that they went out in the night when the temperature was as low as -35C.

It’s a circumstance that Hemant Shah, an Indo-Canadian living in Winnipeg, found shocking.

“For the last five days we don’t venture out for more than five minutes because of the cold,” he told the Star. “You can’t imagine how the kids would be crying during this. What they have gone through — when I realized — my heart is crying.”

With two others, he organized a Zoom prayer for the Patel family, which he said about 150 members of the Indo-Canadian community attended. Now, Shah says, he wants Canadian officials to work to find out what happened to the four deceased Patels, and how to prevent it from happening again.

“For me, it’s an unbelievable decision,” said Ash Patel, another Winnipeg man, originally from Gujarat, who helped organize the memorial prayer. “I’ve lived in Canada 18 years but I’ve never heard of this happening.”

The New Indian Express reported that Jagdish Patel was a teacher in India and that the Patels’ extended family did not know the four planned to travel on to the U.S. from Canada. Several Indian newspapers from the country noted that Dingucha has been a magnet for human-smuggling operations, with people offering locals risky opportunities to illegally enter the U.S. and experience a version of the American dream.

Seven other Indian nationals were arrested in the U.S. as part of the border-crossing attempt.