LONDON, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 19 Asian cockle pickers caught by a fast-rising tide Thursday night off a northwest England bay have been found dead, the British Home Office confirmed Friday.

    The number of the dead cockle pickers is feared to increase as the rescue operation was still ongoing although it became dark at the Morecambe Bay, a source on the scene told Xinhua.

    Among the dead, 17 were men and the other two were women. All of them are thought to be Chinese who could not speak English.

    However, police said it had been difficult to establish the identities of those rescued as they were fearful of the authorities.

    British Home Office minister Beverley Hughes said she suspected people-trafficking was behind the tragedy.

    "It demonstrates yet again what can happen to people when the highly organized elements that are behind the trafficking -- and here with mostly Chinese people we are talking about the ruthless gangs, the 'snakeheads' -- operate globally and transport people for labor exploitation," she told BBC Radio.

    Lancashire Police Chief Constable Paul Stephenson told Sky News:"They may be illegal immigrants," adding that "There is also a language problem."

    Another 14 survivors have been rescued or walked ashore safely by themselves. Two of them had been treated in hospital but now all of them are allocated at a local community center.

    Chinese Deputy Consul General in Manchester, Wu Yangyu, told Xinhua that the except a female Chinese student, the survivors have no passports or any other valid documents.

    Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester has been operating an emergency helpline immediately after they learned the incident Thursday night.

    Morecambe Bay, a northwest England bay, is notoriously dangerous for its fast rising tides and quick sands. The weather was said stormy Thursday night but calmed down afterward.

    Chinese Consul General in Manchester Deng Boqing said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also expressed great concern about the incident, urging the British police and Royal Air Force (RAF) to try their best to search and rescue the trapped.

    The group of cockle hunters set out to go cockling at about 1500 GMT on Thursday, but the tide came in and they became trapped on mud flaps about two miles from shore. A member of the public raised the alarm at about 2120 GMT.

    Royal Air Force, coastguards and police have been searching thewater overnight, using helicopters and lifeboats, while mountain rescue teams have been searching the coast with dogs.

    Police said several of the recovered bodies were found on a sand bank in the northern part of the bay, several miles from Hest Bank where the group was reported missing.

    Commander Harry Roberts, of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, said none had any safety gear and some had stripped naked as they tried to swim to safety in the bitterly cold waters.

    "The water was not much above freezing, the wind was blowing a force six, and the water had been moving at four to five knots," Roberts said.

    Local lawmaker Geraldine Smith told BBC News 24 that cockling had become "a really controversial issue" in recent weeks.

    "The problem is that Morecambe Bay is a public fishery, so anyone can come and fish," she said. Enditem