Originally published on December 26, 2013
At least 17 Haitians were killed when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, the 40-foot sailboat was overloaded with more than 50 suspected illegal migrants from Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, who were headed to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The boat was intercepted around 3:00 a.m. by Turks and Caicos marina police. Two hours later it suddenly capsized about 100 metres from the coast as it was being towed into port at the island of Providenciales.
Thirty-three people, 20 men, 12 females and one boy, were rescued. They are being detained at a Turks and Caicos immigration detention and removal center and will be repatriated to Haiti "at the earliest opportunity", local authorities told AFP.
Reuters reports 12 men and five women died in the accident. Turks and Caicos authorities believe this will be the final death toll, but they still plan to launch a "scaled-down search" for more survivors on Friday. Police are also looking for a few survivors who fled the scene after being rescued. Police said the stricken vessel has already been removed from the water and will be central to their investigation.
Incidents of a similar nature are not uncommon, as many Haitians attempt to escape from the poverty-stricken country, which is still suffering from damage wrought during the 2010 earthquake. The Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas are known stopovers for illegal migrants en route to the U.S. In November at least 30 Haitians drowned to death when their boat keeled over off the southern Bahamas. In June last year a boat heading to Florida from Bahamas sank, killing 11 Haitian migrants.
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