CARACAS: Authorities in northeastern Venezuela have discovered the bodies of 14 African migrants on a river that connects to the Atlantic Ocean, Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello said.

The decomposing bodies were found on a boat in the northeastern state of Delta Amacuro, according to media reports.

`There were 14 human bodies, all from Africa, Cabello said on Wednesday, adding that some were from Mali and that the victims died of dehydration and hunger.

`They came from Africa,` the minister added. `The current would have carried them away, we don`t know.

In late May, authorities in the Caribbean island country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines found 11 bodies on a boat. The victims had Malian passports.-AFP