4 dead after boat capsizes off Florida coast
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 | 10:41 AM
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MIAMI (AP) — Four women died and 10 people were taken into custody after a boat with more than a dozen people aboard — including Haitian and Jamaican nationals — capsized early Wednesday in the waters off South Florida.
The US Coast Guard responded around 1 am after a 911 call alerted authorities to an overturned recreational vessel seven miles east of Miami.
Nine people were found clinging to the hull, Petty Officer Mark Barney said.
A 10th person was taken by boat to Miami Beach, where he was treated at a hospital and released, Barney said.
The group was taken into custody and authorities were investigating whether the victims and survivors were part of a human smuggling operation.
The nine people found clinging to the hull were Haitian and Jamaican nationals, but the nationalities of the rest of the group were not immediately known, Barney said.
The bodies of four women were recovered from the water. The Coast Guard was no longer searching for possible survivors, Cmdr. Darren Caprara said.
The survivors rescued from the water were still on a Coast Guard vessel at sea and it was unclear whether they would be brought to the US or repatriated. All the survivors were in good condition, Caprara said.
Images of the vessel show a small white boat with its center console missing. It was overloaded and lacked lifejackets, Caprara said.
Migrants from Haiti, Cuba and other Caribbean countries routinely attempt to illegally enter the U.S. by reaching Florida’s coast in overloaded or unseaworthy vessels.
In the fiscal year that ended September 30, the Coast Guard picked up 508 Haitians and 1,357 Cubans at sea. Since the new fiscal year began October 1, the Coast Guard has reported picking up 93 Haitians and 117 Cubans.
The number of migrants who die in the crossing or disappear into the community after successfully reaching shore is unknown.
Cubans who arrive in the US are generally allowed to stay under the “wet foot, dry foot” policy, while those stopped at sea are usually returned home. Other immigrants do not receive the same treatment.
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Very sad! bway the sacrifice some of humans made for their family and themselves just to come to this damn country.
And the ones dem weh already here just skylawking. It very sad indeed Honeybee :sorry
*Some, not all
And it might be a possibility that the two women who died may have children. Everything in life is risk, they did try for a better life.
And they will send back those 508 Hatians and keep the 1,357 Cubans because for some reason they have a right to stay the the Hatians don’t
So sad!
U know y they won’t let the Haitians stay bcuz nappy hair black skin the Cubans fit more n blend with the whites
a hope dem sure dem a jamaicancaw evrythin weh gwaan a farrin a yawdie get di blame
Met……….prayers are answered. A God mek him no go Pon it yesterday.
That is why we cannot cry for every disappointment
So you did not pray for the others?
The only Jamaicans I know who take the boat route from the Bahamas are criminals that have been deported and now trying to re-enter the country illegally. Maybe you should send him a life vest before his attempt.
So true
Sad!!
The sacrifice and reality fi ” betterment” is like whoa
Can’t knock the trying to get “better” hustle ( sad it took a tragic turn) but the reality of it is dis United States of Barack Obama no easy . People will do anything fi come in di icebox yah and no know so once u reach yah straight or lean the struggle no normal
A mi fi tell dem. Mi bex fi the ones dem we deh ya lean and evryday dem go dance go floss pon ppl like me, weh haffi wuk haad an pay tax fi support dem Welfare recipiant pickney dem.
I had to look up the “wet foot, dry foot” policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/27/AR2007072701493.html
I will
GN Met an everyone, A yessiday me an a colleague a work a watch the news bout the Africans weh drown off the Italian coast an mi a tell him how mi likkle four yo cuz an her mother take this same trip here an di boat tun ova and di baby a tell we how she drop Inna di ways enuh! Thank God they were saved, tried again an now doing excellent in the us, sadly di father get caught a Bahamas, dem lock him up, fine him, him haffi fine him plane ticket go back home only fi dem kill him months lata. Poor people haffi try or die. According to the box, the Govaments of the world not fulfilling their obligations to take in refugees unda di Geneva convention so people are finding more desperate ways to reach their shores. Jamaicans are not considered for refugee status from bout 2004/5 but we kno they are always making it harder for blk people all ova the world to enter their countries through legal channels, so expect these kind of tragedies to happen more often til dem decide fi shut it down. Sad for those who lost their lives an the families left behind.
fleeing from any socialist government/communist u can get asylum Cubans get a pass but Jamaica does not cyaa there live in a society-democratic govt.