Haitian Migrant Boat Capsize Update: Bahamas Detains 56 Survivors

November 28,2013

AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard

This image taken from video made available by the U.S. Coast Guard shows a group of Haitian migrants sitting on the hull of a capsized sailboat near Staniel Cay, Bahamas, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013.

NASSAU, Bahamas-- The Bahamas military has detained 56 Haitian migrants on a boat near where another migrant vessel capsized earlier this week.

A statement from the Royal Bahamas Defense Forces says the migrants were captured near Ragged Island. They were detained Wednesday as authorities were searching for survivors or bodies from Monday's capsizing near Harvey Cays.The military says about 30 migrants drowned when their boat struck ground and capsized in an area dotted with tiny islands, reefs, rocks and expanses of shallow water. Authorities have not been able to recover all the bodies.
The military says 111 survivors of the capsizing and the 56 found near Ragged Island will be held in New Providence and repatriated. The Bahamas has detained more than 1,500 migrants this year, 90 percent from Haiti.

MORE: Haunting Shipwrecks Around the World

26 / 89

The Peter Iredale shipwreck is located at Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon. (Flickr/joannapoe)