The US coast guard has found an additional seven survivors from the capsizing of a vessel carrying Haitian migrants near Puerto Rico, a coast guard spokesperson said on Friday, taking the total number of survivors to 38 with the death toll unchanged at 11.
The vessel, which was first spotted on Thursday north of Desecheo Island, an uninhabited island in the archipelago of Puerto Rico, the US territory, was carrying mostly Haitian migrants as well as two citizens of the Dominican Republic, a spokesman said.
“Of these survivors, eight remain hospitalized,” the spokesman told Reuters. “Search efforts continue.”
The coast guard on Thursday had reported 31 survivors.
Migrants, particularly from Haiti, have in recent months been attempting to escape gang violence and poverty through dangerous voyages on unseaworthy vessels, with a string of tragic losses at sea.
The capsizing comes less than a week after the US coast guard and Dominican navy last Saturday rescued 68 people in the Mona Passage, a treacherous area in the Caribbean between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
One woman believed to be from Haiti died.
