At least 20 people died and dozens more were missing after a sailboat crowded with Haitian migrants capsized on Friday as it was being towed by a Turks and Caicos police boat, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) reported.
Rescue crews were searching for about 58 Haitians who were unaccounted for, the USCG said.
Early on Friday, coast guard officials working in the area had been notified that a Haitian vessel capsized while being towed by a police boat about 800m off Providenciales, one of the Turks and Caicos islands.
A USCG helicopter located about 20 bodies, while police from the British overseas territory rescued 73 people.
The 10m sail-freighter was apparently headed for the United States, 900km away, with about 150 people aboard.
Every year, hundreds of Haitians fleeing their impoverished nation make the illegal sea voyage aboard often overcrowded boats in search of a better life in the US.
The coast guard estimates more than 200 Haitians have died over the past five years while trying to make their way to the US.
In March, a US coast-guard crew recovered five bodies after a sail freighter with 56 people aboard caught fire and capsized off the Dominican Republic.
Since January, 909 Haitians have been interdicted by the coast guard as they tried to make their way illegally to the United States. — AFP
