Venezuelan prosecutors probe Amazon Indian deaths

Apr 15, 5:48 PM EDT
Venezuelan prosecutors probe Amazon Indian deaths
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
Associated Press Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan authorities are investigating the deaths of six Yanomami Indians, including two children, in a remote community in the Amazon.

Prosecutors believe that four adults - a man and three women - died after drinking water contaminated by illegal miners, and that the two children were apparently killed, the Attorney General's Office said Thursday.

An estimated 28,000 or more Yanomami live in communities on both sides of the Venezuela-Brazil border, holding on to their native language and many traditions despite increasing encroachment by outsiders and modern development.

Gold miners use mercury to separate gold from rocks and often dump leftover mercury into the rivers in Amazonas state, deep in the forests of southern Venezuela.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_VENEZUELA_INDIAN_DEATHS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-04-15-17-48-10

- it has to stop.