The US Coast Guard says an overloaded sailboat carrying migrants from Haiti has overturned in the Bahamas and at least 10 people have reportedly died.
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.
