There was a family of 4 from Gujarat. The family consisted of Jagdish Patel, 35, his wife, Vaishali, 33, their daughter Vihanga, 12, and son Dharmik, 3. They were from a remote village named Dingucha with 3,000 people. They left the village in the second week of January and flew to Canada. They aimed to enter the USA illegally as they were not getting visas. They were desperate for this.
However, in a shocking incident, the entire family froze to death at the USA-Canada border. The family landed in Emmerson, Manitoba in Cannada. They paid money to smugglers to help them cross the border to the USA illegally as they were unable to obtain visas. The group was given new winter coats, gloves, ski masks, and boots, all of them black. The family of 4 was along with another group of Gujarati people.
None of them knew how to speak English. Even though they did not know the language they wanted to move to the USA for a better life. The smugglers dropped the group some distance away from the US border. The Gujarati people then had to walk to the border by themselves. They began their walk. That time the temperature was around -35C. There was a strong wind. It was extremely cold and they had to walk through thick snow.
They walked for 11 hours and had started walking at 9:30 pm. Someone else would pick them up once they crossed the border. Somewhere along the route, the family of 4 got separated from the group as it was very dark. The remaining group continued walking & successfully crossed the border but they were caught by the U.S. Border Patrol officers. However, the family of 4 were all frozen to death. In the severe cold, their blood stopped circulating and they froze to death.
The Canadian authorities then informed the Indian government who informed their family in their village. You all may think the family was poor and wanted to go to the USA for a better life but that's not the case. They were from a large, supportive family and were well-to-do. The father Jagdish Patel worked as a teacher and owned farmland. Despite this, they wanted to move to the USA for a better life for their children. Sadly they passed away.
The USA & Canadian authorities are now investigating the matter and suspect that there could be a huge smuggling racket to help people enter the USA illegally. An online prayer service for the Patel family was held by about 250 Gujarati ex-pats who are living in Canada. It was organized by Hemant Shah in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Cannada. He said,
“I can't believe they decided to walk in such a cold climate. With the weather now in Winnipeg, we don’t dare to go out. Even essential activities are not possible. We could never do this. Even thinking about the pain they might have experienced in cold temperatures gives us goosebumps.”