Authorities observed a capsized boat, about 25 feet long, that held some 160 migrants off the Turks and Caicos Islands. Police have recovered more than a dozen bodies, some with shark bite wounds.
(Vivian Tyson/Associated Press)
At least 20 dead after Haitian boat capsizes
Occupants were thrown into water infested by sharks
SOUTH DOCK, Turks and Caicos Islands -- Every year, Haitians by the hundreds set off in rickety boats hoping to escape poverty by sneaking into the United States. The perils became gruesomely apparent yesterday when a crowded boat capsized, flinging migrants into shark-infested waters.
Hours after the sailing vessel overturned in moonlit waters a half-mile from shore, rescuers had recovered more than a dozen bodies -- some with savage bite wounds -- and were searching for about 60 missing people.
The Turks and Caicos government said the boat was carrying some 160 people and that 78 survivors -- 69 males and 9 females -- were rescued. Police have recovered 16 bodies, those of 13 females and three males, the government said.
Some survivors were spotted clinging to the hull of their overturned vessel by a US Coast Guard helicopter , said Petty Officer Third Class Barry Bena. The chopper guided in a boat to get them. A Coast Guard cutter and a C-130 plane also were dispatched to join the search.
"Five or six small boats of ours are out searching. The survivors are being fed," a Turks and Caicos official said as bodies were being delivered to South Dock, the main commercial port of this British territory.
The Coast Guard said its helicopter reported spotting about 20 corpses.
It could become the worst disaster in years to hit Haitian migrants, who jam into boats to attempt the treacherous journey. The boat that overturned yesterday was about 25 feet long.
"When it's done that way it takes almost nothing for a disaster to occur," Bena said in a telephone interview from Miami. "A strong wind or a sea swell or people moving around can capsize a boat in an instant."
The Coast Guard said the migrant vessel capsized while being towed by a Turks and Caicos police boat at 4:30 a.m., but local authorities said the police boat arrived on the scene after the accident.
Survivors were taken to a detention center on Providenciales, the island that is the urban center of the Turks and Caicos and features an 18-hole golf course, resort hotels, bars, and restaurants.
There is a sizable community of illegal Haitian immigrants on Providenciales, and it was not immediately clear if those aboard the boat were headed here or to the United States .
The number of Haitians intercepted by the Coast Guard has increased recently, despite the restoration of democracy to Haiti last year with the election of President Rene Preval.
He replaced an interim government that took over after a rebellion overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide .
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
