The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday it had rescued 49 people and was searching for 10 others after a boat carrying migrants recently capsized in open waters west of Puerto Rico. At least three bodies have been found since the boat, carrying 62 passengers, overturned Sunday evening near Mona Island, the AP reports. Authorities said a passenger attacked others with a machete, causing serious injuries and forcing dozens of people to jump into the water.
U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told the AP on Tuesday that the majority of people on the boat were migrants from the Dominican Republic, while two were believed to be from Haiti. He added that he did not know what motivated the attack, which “created a panic situation.” Castrodad said the number of casualties could have been much higher without a vessel passing the area Monday afternoon that reported the incident and helped rescue four people. “Everyone could have easily died,” he said.
Helicopters flew over Mona Island and nearby areas on Tuesday as rescuers searched for the missing. Coast Guard video showed at least two survivors wearing life jackets walking along the edge of the rocky island, one of them jumping into the water toward a rescuer as waves hit the outcropping. It is the latest deadly voyage involving a makeshift ship attempting to cross the dangerous Mona Passage that separates Puerto Rico from the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
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