40 Rescued, 2 Dead After Boat Capsizes West of Puerto Rico

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued at least 40 people from open waters after their boat capsized several miles west of Puerto Rico, the agency reported Monday.

Two individuals were found dead, and survivors indicated that approximately 60 people were on board the makeshift vessel. Rescue operations were ongoing as of Monday evening.

Survivors had been in the water for over 12 hours when a passing boat near Mona Island spotted them around noon on Monday and alerted authorities. This group of four was rescued by the passing vessel.

The makeshift boat capsized late Sunday. According to the Coast Guard, the incident followed a fight during which individuals sustained severe injuries from a machete, prompting others to jump into the water without life vests.

The origin of the individuals aboard the boat was not immediately available. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson stated that this information was not yet confirmed.

Migrant journeys from Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to Puerto Rico and other islands often involve navigating the treacherous Mona Passage. These voyages are frequently undertaken on makeshift vessels that can capsize in rough seas.

This latest incident follows a similar tragedy in June 2022, when 11 Haitian girls and women died after the overloaded boat they were traveling in capsized northwest of Puerto Rico. Last week, police in the Turks and Caicos Islands detained a boat carrying 60 Haitian migrants, and in June, another 240 migrants from Haiti were intercepted near the archipelago.

These departures are occurring amid a severe crisis in Haiti, where gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people. United Nations statistics indicate that over 3,050 people were killed in Haiti between January and June of this year. Armed groups are reported to control approximately 70% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as significant areas in the country's central region and beyond.