Police go to island to look into US man’s death

Police investigating the apparent killing of an American by an isolated island tribe off the coast of India said they have surveyed the island by air and have carefully visited the area to identify where the man died.

A statement issued by the police for the Andaman and Nicobar islands late Wednesday said the police and India’s coast guard carried out an aerial survey of Northern Sentinel Island on Tuesday. A team of police and forest department officials used a coast guard boat to visit the island Wednesday and another visit was planned Thursday.

The Sentinelese people are highly resistant to outsiders and the government tightly restricts visits to the island. Police officer Vijay Singh said Thursday morning that police were exploring their options since they cannot go directly to the restricted area and confront the tribespeople.

Police on Wednesday said fishermen who helped John Allen Chau visit the island saw a dead person being buried at the shore who appeared to be Chau. The fishermen then returned to Port Blair, the capital of the islands, and reported what happened.

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