VANCOUVER, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Canadian police have detained a ship suspected of carrying over 70 illegal migrants into its Pacific coast, local media reported on Sunday.
A rusting vessel named Ocean Lady with 76 people on board was intercepted by a Canadian navy ship off Vancouver Island on Friday. The people on board the ship said they were attempting to reach Canada, the media reported.
The nationality of the people and the ship's origin could not be immediately known. However, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said there were preliminary indications that the ship had come from Sri Lanka.
The ship was escorted to a dock near Victoria, British Columbia, where the people aboard the boat were taken off the vessel for interviews and detainment by immigration officials, the media reported.
In May 2009, the government forces of Sri Lanka defeated the Tamil Tiger terrorist group, which had fought a brutal separatist war on the island for about three decades.
