39 Haitians Die in Maritime Mishap, Bahamas Reports
Thirty-nine Haitians drowned when their sailboat capsized in choppy seas in the Bahamas while being towed by a military patrol boat, according to a government statement Thursday.
Sixty-seven others aboard the unnamed 45-foot sailing sloop were rescued after it sank Tuesday afternoon, the Bahamian government said. The government did not explain what caused the sloop to sink while under tow.
The Bahamian Defense Force vessel Yellow Elder spotted the Haitian vessel Tuesday morning off Staniel Cay, about 200 miles southeast of the southern tip of Florida near Great Exuma Island. The sloop tried to enter shallow waters and the patrol boat pursued, catching up to the vessel and taking it under tow, according to the statement. During the tow back to Staniel Cay, the sloop capsized.
One Haitian radio station reported that the towline broke, and another said that panicked Haitians ran to one side of the vessel when Bahamian soldiers boarded it.
The bodies of the 30 men and nine women were buried Wednesday at Bitter Guana Cay in the Exumas, about 80 miles from Nassau, the statement said.
The surviving Haitians were brought to Nassau on Wednesday.
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