A boat carrying Haitian migrants bound for the United States capsized off the coast of the Bahamas early Sunday, leaving at least 17 people dead, the Bahamian prime minister said.
Bahamian police and defense forces responded to reports of a “boating incident” shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, Prime Minister Philip Davisat a news conference with health and safety officials. “Rescue teams recovered 17 — sadly — 17 bodies from the water,” he said, adding that 25 people were rescued.One male and 16 females, including a toddler, were among the dead, said Aubynette Rolle, managing director of the Bahamas’ Public Hospitals Authority.
One woman was pulled from the capsized boat after officers heard knocking from the hull. She was kept alive by a small air pocket, Fernander said, rescued after daybreak as teams struggled overnight to identify the boat’s ocean-blueMore people are presumed to be missing, Davis said, and the boat was thought to have been carrying as many as 60 people when it departed from a dock off West Bay Street, which runs along the northwest side of the capital, Nassau, on the island of New Providence.
It is believed that the boat “capsized in rough seas,” Davis said. “Formidable weather conditions out there” were hampering rescue efforts, said Capt. Shonedel Pinder, deputy commander of the Bahamian defense force.The U.S. Coast Guard was surveying a wide expanse around the site in hopes of finding occupants of the boat who may have drifted away, officials said.
The Haitian embassies in Washington and the Bahamas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Advertisement
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
At least 17 Haitian migrants found dead off Bahamas coastRescuers in the Bahamas have found the bodies of 17 Haitian migrants thought to have died after their vessel capsized in rough seas during a 'suspected human smuggling operation,' the country's leader said.
Read more »
Boat carrying Haitian migrants sinks off Bahamas, killing 17MEXICO CITY (AP) — A boat carrying Haitian migrants apparently capsized off the Bahamas early Sunday, and Bahamian security forces recovered the bodies of 17 people and rescued 25 others, authorities said.
Read more »
Officials: 17 Dead After Boat Carrying Haitian Migrants Sinks Off BahamasA boat carrying Haitian migrants apparently capsized off the Bahamas early Sunday, and Bahamian security forces recovered the bodies of 17 people and rescued 25 others, authorities said.
Read more »
Boat Headed for Miami Capsizes Near the Bahamas, Killing 17According to the Italian Coast Guard, the rescue mission was just one of several in the area in the past few days.
Read more »
Novel sensor allows the detection of Alzheimer's 17 years in advanceA research team at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum has developed a new sensor that is able to identify signs of Alzheimer's disease in the blood up to 17 years before the first clinical symptoms appear.
Read more »