Rescuers search for migrants of capsized boat; 9 reported dead
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Coast Guard rescuers are searching for survivors of a large boat that capsized, leaving dozens stranded in the deep waters of the Atlantic and killing as many as nine, including a child.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the boat capsized as early as 2 a.m. Wednesday carrying Haitian migrants. After a search that lasted all night, the Coast Guard held a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday where they confirmed nine dead.
At a press conference early Wednesday evening, Capt. James Fitton, the Commander of the Coast Guard Sector Miami, said authorities were still searching for at least four migrants that remain unaccounted for.
Fitton said this looked like a smuggling operation, which often leads to tragedies such as this. "With smuggling you have the potential for this because smugglers are not interested in people's welfare," he said. "They're interested in making money."
He also noted that they have not yet confirmed whether this was a case of immigrant smuggling. "We will worry about law enforcement when everybody's safe," he said.
Officials were able to determine that about 30 people had been on board the boat, based on the numbers given by those they rescued, but they also warned that the numbers could change as news develops. At the Thursday morning conference, the Coast Guard said a total of five had to be hospitalized. That morning three were still in the hospital, including a woman who is eight months pregnant. Two of those hospitalized have been released into government custody. Finally 11, 10 men and one woman, remain on board a Coast Guard cutter.
Coast Guard officials rescued the migrants from the cold Atlantic waters using a helicopter and divers, and brought them aboard their cutter called the Cormorant. They transported the ones that needed medical attention to area hospitals in West Palm Beach. Rescue crews transported four of the migrants to St. Mary's Hospital. Among the four is Soimise Dorasainvil's 26-year-old pregnant daughter. Dorasainvil is worried sick because she's not being allowed to visit her. "I don't see my baby," she said.
Those transported suffered from dehydration and sun exposure. Officials said the migrants may have been waiting up to 12 hours in the water before a Good Samaritan spotted them and notified the Coast Guard.
The bodies of those who perished were brought to the marina in Riviera Beach and will be examined one by one.
According to Fitton, Good Samaritans on a fishing boat spotted the group struggling to stay afloat at around 12:30 p.m. and called the Coast Guard, who continue to search for any more survivors. Fitton noted the search will continue for some time, until they know that all the migrants are accounted for. "We'll be out there all night," he said.
By Thursday morning, rescuers had searched 2700 square miles and found none of the presumed missing. They Coast Guard said they would expect any survivors to be somewhere between Vero Beach and Cape Canaveral by noon.
According to the Coast Guard, they learned from one of those rescued that the boat left Bimini sometime Tuesday night with South Florida as their destination. They have yet to locate the migrants' boat at this time. It remains unclear of it sank or drifted somewhere out to sea. It is also unknown if the boat capsized due to overload or if it collided with something.
Meanwhile, local Haitian migrants living in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami are upset with the pictures they are seeing on the local news of their countrymen, who they say are seeking asylum from a destitute country. "It makes me feel very angry to see that the people are Haitian, in the water," said Denise Monpremier, "because everyday they're dying in the water."
Similar stories of desperate Haitian migrants have played out live before news cameras. In March of 2007, on Hallandale Beach, scores of Haitian migrants were seen diving off an overcrowded boat to try and make it to shore.
In October of 2002, off of Key Biscayne, nearly 200 refugees braved an 8-day journey to escape Haiti's grinding poverty. Again, many dove into the waters, after they were spotted.
Karen Andre, an immigration attorney, echoed the sentiment of the local Haitian community over this latest disaster at sea that, by most accounts, looked like a smuggling operation from Haiti. "It might have been a smuggling operation," she said, "so I'm frustrated to know that somebody is profiting off of people's pain, people's misery, people's fears."
Wednesday's tragedy is putting the spotlight on the U.S. Immigration policy towards Haiti. Currently there are lawmakers, including Senator Ted Kennedy, fighting to allow Haitians to stay in the U.S., even if it is only temporarily. They argue that conditions in Haiti are deplorable due to last year's hurricanes and the political and economic turmoil that has plagued the country for decades.
Meanwhile, locals continue to to remain hopeful that things will get better in Haiti. "We pray for Haiti, because we have to continue to hope because God is never going to abandon our country," said Father Reginald Jean-Mary of Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church.
Notre Dame D'Haiti held an 8 a.m. mass Thursday in remembrance of the lives lost in this tragedy.
(Copyright 2009 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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