Photos released by the Coast Guard show about 100 Haitians clinging to the hull of the boat after it grounded off Staniel Cay in the eastern Bahamas.
Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and Coast Guard began a rescue operation after the boat ran aground last night. The rescue and a search for survivors was ongoing today.
Staniel Cay is in the Exumas, a Bahamian island chain east of Nassau. Haitian migrants have long passed through the archipelago east of Florida on overloaded vessels seeking to settle in the Bahamas or reach the US.