In a heartbreaking tragedy, a family of four, including a baby, all believed to be Indians, died from exposure to cold weather on the Canadian side of the border with the US in an apparent human smuggling operation, according to media reports.

Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Thursday said that the bodies of four people — two adults, a teen and an infant — were found on the Canadian side of the US/Canada border near Emerson on Wednesday.

US officials say the dead are believed to be a family from India. They are thought to have been attempting to cross into the US, according to media reports.

RCMP assistant commissioner Jane MacLatchy shared the discovery with reporters in a news conference on Thursday.

“What I am about to share is going to be difficult for many people to hear,” she said, calling it “an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy”.

“At this very early stage of the investigation, it appears that they all died due to exposure to the cold weather,” MacLatchy said, adding that the RCMP believe the four are connected to the group that was apprehended on the US side of the border.

She said all four were located within 9 to 12 metres of the border.