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Authorities discovered 19 more illegal Chinese immigrants in a cargo container Tuesday, one day after three migrants were found dead in another container.
All 19 are men and all appear healthy enough not to be hospitalized, officials at the Port of Seattle said. They will be taken to a federal detention center.
The ship that carried the human cargo, the Yokohama, originated in Hong Kong. It made several stops before arriving in Seattle, the last one in Puson, Korea.
Tuesday's discovery follows Monday's gruesome find of 18 stowaways -- including three dead passengers -- who apparently rode for 14 days in a cramped soft-top shipping container.
The 15 who survived the voyage were taken to Harborview Medical Center suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and exposure.
Tuesday's latest discovery is the fourth in Seattle in 10 days and the sixth this year. There have also been incidents at other West Coast ports, including Vancouver, British Columbia and Long Beach, California, south of Los Angeles.
Federal officials say such immigrants often pay smugglers tens of thousands of dollars to hide them aboard cargo ships.
Two of those found Monday remained in serious condition Tuesday, hospital spokesman Larry Zolen told AFP.
Monday's incident was the first here in which passengers were found dead.
The three dead people, two men and an elderly woman, may have been dead "for as long as a week," Zolen said.
"It's inevitable that this would happen sooner or later," said Irene Mortensen of the Immigration and Naturilization Service. "These smugglers care only about money, not people."
Since it is a "death on the high seas," the Federal Bureau of Investigation will take over the probe of Monday's stowaways.
The latest illegal immigrants arrived in Seattle three days after the United States repatriated 246 stowaways to China, in a bid to stem the flow of people making the hazardous and expensive illegal journey to the West.
The government of Hong Kong on Tuesday pledged to clamp down on the illegal migrant trafficking.
So Kam-shing, a principal security secretary, said the deaths should send a message to those thinking about making the dangerous journey.
"They should realize that they will not only fall prey to alien smugglers financially but will also be risking their own lives," So said.
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