11 Confirmed Dead After Suspected Migrant Boat Capsizes Off Coast of Puerto Rico

A boat capsized off the coast of Puerto Rico on Thursday, leaving at least 11 people dead.

CTVNews.ca reports that the boat was carrying dozens of suspected migrants when it went down. Authorities confirmed at least 31 people were rescued in addition to the nearly dozen people who were killed. Authorities confirm that at least some of the migrants are of Haitian descent.

At least 11 people died and 38 others were rescued after a boat carrying migrants capsized on Thursday near Puerto Rico, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Most of the people on the boat were from Haiti, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. https://t.co/mISZdUWHzx

— The New York Times (@nytimes)
May 13, 2022

US Coast Guard spokesperson Ricardo Castrodad described the operation as a ”mass rescue effort.” “If not for that, we would not have known about this until someone would have found any sign or received reports from people that their loved ones are missing,” he said.

US Customs and Border Protection spotted the distressed vessel Thursday morning while out on patrol. Authorities found the vessel approximately 11 miles off the island of Desecheo on the West Coast of Puerto Rico.

In recent weeks the Coast Guard has rescued dozens of migrants off the Puerto Rican coast. The report notes that earlier this month the Coast Guard rescued 68 migrants in the Mona Passage, which lies between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

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