At least 16 Haitians died and 15 were saved after shipwreck near the north of the Abaco archipelago, when they tried to enter illegally in the Atlantic territory of the Bahamas, local authorities reported Sunday.
The events took place on the afternoon of this Saturday and became known after several local residents reported the existence of four bodies on the coast near the Man-O-War Cay.
After the alert, both the United States Coast Guard and the Royal Defense Force of the Bahamas (RBDF) and other security and rescue bodies, through sea and air, were mobilized.
The 15 survivors were rescued six miles away (about ten kilometers) from the aforementioned archipelago by a RBDF ship and, subsequently, admitted to the nearby Marsh hospital to undergo a medical evaluation and then handed over to the authorities. of immigration.
Several divers found on the ship, at the bottom of the sea, the remaining bodies without life.
According to the authorities, the death toll could rise as the operation is still underway.
It is the sixth boat of Haitians that has been intercepted by the authorities since the beginning of the year.
On January 4, a total of fifty-four Haitian immigrants were arrested in the same archipelago of Abacos when they tried to enter illegally in the Atlantic territory of the Bahamas.
The arrests followed other recent operations in which citizens of the Caribbean country were arrested.
Another 124 Haitians had been detained in waters near New Providence on December 30 and 16 more on the first day of January on the same island, where the capital, Nassau, is located.
As a result of the latest arrests, more than a hundred Haitian immigrants have been accused by a local court of attempted illegal entry into the territory of the Bahamas. (EFEUSA) .-
