Twenty Haitians Dead in Capsize Tragedy

Posted on May 4, 2007

A boat carrying about 150 Haitians capsized near the Turks and Caicos Islands in the early hours of Friday.  Local police had tallied 20 fatalities later in the day, but the U.S. Coast Guard was still on the case, hunting for dozens still missing after about 70 had been rescued.

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AP via Breitbart.com:

The Coast Guard said the migrant vessel had capsized while being towed by a Turks and Caicos police boat at 4:30 a.m., but local authorities denied that. When authorities heard about the disaster, a police boat unsuccessfully searched in the darkness, but when the boat returned at daybreak, rescuers found some bodies in the water, said a Turks and Caicos official who did not want his name used because he was not authorized to speak for the record.

In the late morning, a Turks and Caicos boat attached a line to the capsized vessel and began towing it to Providenciales.

The Coast Guard said it has deployed a C-130 aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and a cutter to help in the search.

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