Two people have died and at least 40 have been rescued after a homemade boat capsized in open waters off Mona Island, west of Puerto Rico. Survivors said there were likely about 60 people on board, the Associated Press reported. Several people are still being sought.
The incident happened around 11 p.m. Sunday, about 10 miles from the island. The survivors spent more than 12 hours in the water before the crew of the motorboat “Tripitty“ spotted them around noon Monday. The crew rescued four people and alerted the Coast Guard in San Juan.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that before the boat capsized, a fight broke out in which several people were seriously injured with machetes. In the ensuing confusion, some of the passengers jumped into the water and tried to swim to Mona Island. Rescuers said none of the people on the boat were wearing life jackets.
The operation involved Coast Guard teams, the cutter “Joseph Doyle“, air units from Puerto Rico and Miami, Puerto Rico police, US Customs and Border Protection, the Dominican Republic Air Force and rangers from the local conservation department.
Mona Island is located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The area is often used by migrants who travel in overloaded homemade boats. The nationality of the people on the boat has not yet been confirmed, and the search for survivors and dead continues.
Sources: MarineLink