Coast Guard Searches for Missing After Puerto Rico Boat Capsizes, 3 Dead and 52 Rescued
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Coast Guard Searches for Missing After Puerto Rico Boat Capsizes, 3 Dead and 52 Rescued
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Summary
Three people were confirmed dead and 52 rescued after a makeshift boat carrying at least 60 people capsized near Mona Island, with Coast Guard crews still searching for the missing.
A fight broke out aboard the vessel late Sunday, survivors said, and several people were injured with a machete before others jumped into the water without life vests.
A passing vessel pulled four people from the water and alerted authorities around noon Monday—more than 12 hours after the capsize—prompting a wider rescue effort involving CBP, Puerto Rico police and the Dominican Air Force.
Most survivors are from the Dominican Republic and at least two are Haitian, underscoring the Mona Passage's role as a dangerous migrant route toward Puerto Rico and the United States.
The disaster adds to a string of deadly crossings in those waters, where at least 11 migrants died in a 2022 capsize north of another island west of Puerto Rico.