Photo: Rescuers recovering victims’ bodies
No fewer than 17 Haitian refugees who were fleeing to the United States, including children have died in a boat that was conveying them.
Media reports on Monday said that the boat capsized off the coast of the Bahamas.
The victims were attempting to flee Haiti to the United States as gang violence and poverty continue to ravage the tiny Caribbean island country.
Authorities in Bahama said rescuers recovered the bodies of 17 people, including an infant.
25 people, including four women, were rescued, the office of the Bahamian Prime Minister, Philip Davis, said at a news conference late on Sunday.
The PM’s office said authorities believed that the victims were on a speedboat heading for Miami when the incident occurred, with the vessel believed to have capsized in rough seas.
The Bahamian Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander, said up to 60 people may have been on board the vessel as more people are presumed missing.
“All those on board recovered alive or dead or who were still missing were believed to be migrants from Haiti,” Fernander said.
