PROVIDENCIALES, Turks And Caicos — Rescuers searched by sea and air Tuesday for nearly 70 Haitians after an overloaded sailboat ran aground and capsized in the reef-studded waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands, killing at least 15 migrants.
The boat was carrying an estimated 200 people — men, women and teenagers — when it struck a reef near West Caicos, part of an archipelago that has proven to be deadly for Haitians fleeing the poverty of their homeland in rickety vessels.
Such perilous journeys have long been common throughout the world, but the number of migrants risking their lives has declined amid increased border enforcement in the United States and Europe and due to a global recession that has eliminated many unskilled jobs.
Minister of Public Safety Samuel Been and the U.S. Coast Guard said 15 people died and more than 100 were rescued, including some who were clinging to reefs or who swam 2 miles to shore.
Coast Guard boats, airplanes and a helicopter joined local authorities and volunteers in searching a 1,600-square-mile area, said Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Johnson. Any survivors in the water would have been struggling with 23 mph winds and 6-foot seas.
“We hope that there are survivors and we can get them medical attention,” she said. “However, as time goes by, it becomes less and less likely because of exposure and fatigue.”
The Haitians had been at sea for three days when they spotted a police vessel and tried to hide, accidentally steering the boat onto a reef, survivor Alces Julien told The Associated Press.
“We saw police boats and we tried to hide until they passed,” he said at a hospital where survivors were treated for dehydration. “We hit a reef, and the boat broke up.”
Deputy Police Commissioner Hubert Hughes said officers were not pursuing the migrant vessel — which did not have a motor — and were involved only as rescuers.
“They were traveling in waters that are quite dangerous if you don’t know the area quite well,” he said.
