19 Drown Hunting for Shellfish Off British Coast

Swift tides and ice-cold waters killed 19 people hunting for shellfish in a treacherous northern English bay, police said Friday. Authorities suspect that the dead and 16 survivors, mostly Chinese nationals, were victims of people smugglers and work-gang operators.

Recovery teams continued their search of Morecambe Bay, known for dangerous, fast-rising waters, but authorities said there was little hope of finding more survivors.

The dead -- 17 men and two women -- were among a group of workers who were cut off from the shore at Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, northwestern England, on Thursday evening as they searched for cockles, shellfish that live just below the surface of muddy sand.

Lancashire Deputy Chief Constable Julia Hodson said the survivors included two Europeans and 14 Chinese nationals, many of whom had requested asylum. She said it was still unclear whether they were working illegally and who had employed them. “These are what a coroner would view as suspicious deaths,” she said.

The tragedy was reminiscent of the June 2000 deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants who suffocated in a truck as it crossed into Britain on a ferry.