A civil defense official in the Dominican Republic said that forensic teams are trying to identify 14 West Africans whose remains were found on a boat drifting near the northern coast of the Caribbean nation.

RTVD, the state-run media, reported that at least one of the 14 bodies found decomposed on the boat, which was 10 nautical miles from Rio San Juan and of Senegalese or Mauritanian descent, was younger than 18 years. Authorities also discovered 29 mobile phones.

Images of damaged national ID cards were published in the media.

The navy had said that it would continue its investigation with the Public Prosecutor's Office to find out the cause and origin of the maritime tragedy. A day before, the Navy released a press release in which they stated the make and the origin of the ship were not known.

The navy also reported that a backpack contained 12 packages of what authorities believed to be heroin or cocaine.

With strong winds and westerly currents, the Atlantic Ocean near the West African coastline is one of the most hazardous maritime routes in the world.

(source: Reuters)