In addition, more than 470 people have been killed, injured or disappeared in less than a week amid gang fights in the nearby Cite Soleil slum, according to the United Nations. This week alone, authorities blamed gangs for setting a courthouse and a church on fire as turf wars in the capital of Port-au-Prince intensify. Some capsize in the treacherous Mona Passage that separates the two islands while other boats drop off migrants in tiny uninhabited islands before reaching Puerto Rico.Ī growing number of Haitians are fleeing their country as gangs grow more powerful following the Jassassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Most human smuggling boats that carry Haitian migrants to Puerto Rico depart from the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Customs and Border Protection, said all migrants aboard the boat were Haitians.
He said 41 men, 25 women and two children survived, adding that none had any urgent medical issues. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told The Associated Press. Officials determined that no additional people were missing, based on interviews with survivors, U.S. The incident is the latest in a string of deadly voyages across the northern Caribbean carrying mostly Haitian migrants fleeing their country amid a deepening political and economic crisis and a spike in gang-related killings and kidnappings.įederal and local authorities searched the area near Mona Island for several hours after receiving a call from rangers with Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources who first spotted the migrants. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - At least five Haitian migrants drowned and 68 others were rescued Thursday after a suspected human smuggling boat dropped the group off in waters near an uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico, officials said.
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