Boats Pluck More Bodies From Sea Off Haiti

Rescue boats plucked bloated bodies from the sea Friday as hopes faded for discovering more survivors from this week’s ferry disaster off Haiti.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced late Friday afternoon that it had suspended its search for survivors. Five Coast Guard cutters and several aircraft had been involved in the hunt off Haiti’s southwestern coast.

Officials may never know how many people were crowded onto the Neptune when the overloaded 39-year-old converted freighter sank Tuesday night. Some estimates went as high as 2,000, but most survivors and officials place the passenger count at 800 to 1,200.

The latest estimates from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Haitian Port Authority and the ship’s owner put the number between 900 and 1,000 passengers.

The Red Cross said that as of Friday morning it had accounted for 285 survivors, including some who clung to floating animal carcasses or buoyant bags of charcoal for up to 31 hours before reaching shore. The Haitian navy said 300 people are known to have survived.

More than 200 bodies were recovered by Friday. Haitian peasants in some coastal villages told local radio other bodies have washed ashore.

The ferry went down in a storm during a scheduled run from the southwestern port of Jeremie to Port-au-Prince, the capital, 150 miles to the east.

Most of the passengers on the trip, which takes 12 to 18 hours and costs the equivalent of $7, were poor peasants who lived in or near Jeremie and were heading to market in the capital. The roads connecting Jeremie and Port-au-Prince are in poor condition, and few buses run because of fuel shortages.

The only other ferry on the route was out for repairs, and with the Neptune gone the southwestern region will be even more isolated.

The Neptune had three decks, with a tarpaulin cover over one side of the top deck. Survivors said that when the rains came, people on the top deck rushed to the side with the cover, causing the overloaded ferry to capsize.

Survivors said the 163-foot, steel-hull ferry was not equipped with life jackets or lifeboats.

Haiti declared today a national day of mourning and canceled the day’s pre-Carnival festivities. The three-day celebration begins Sunday.