Puerto Rico - 11 Haitian Women Drowned

SimoneFlen' · #1 ● 06-03-2022, 11:21 AM

12th May 2022

At least 11 people died and 38 were rescued after a boat carrying Haitian migrants overturned Thursday near an uninhabited island off Puerto Rico’s western coast, according to federal authorities.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft spotted the capsized vessel and over 20 people in the water near noon about 11 miles from Desecheo Island, a wildlife refuge in the Mona Passage, the treacherous stretch of water between Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola. The passengers appeared to not be wearing life jackets.
Customs and the U.S. Coast Guard were collaborating with the marine units of the Puerto Rico Police Department as the search for survivors continued through the night.
“They’re on the scene trying to rescue as many people as they can,” said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad on Thursday afternoon.

Of the 38 survivors, 36 were Haitian nationals and two were Dominican, Customs said. There were at least five women among the dead.

Eight Haitians were taken to a hospital in the northwestern town of Aguadilla and the bodies of the dead were sent to the Puerto Rico Forensic Sciences Institute.

The Mona Passage is a common route for illegal voyages of vessels often overloaded with migrants from the Dominican Republic or Haiti traveling towards Puerto Rico.