54 migrants rescued from boat off Puerto Rico

The U.S. Coast Guard says 54 migrants have been picked up from a makeshift wooden boat that capsized off the west coast of Puerto Rico.

Authorities say the overloaded, 30-foot vessel capsized in rough seas Tuesday as Puerto Rican police and U.S. border protection agents were transferring the migrants onto their own boats.

The Coast Guard statement said aircraft searched for any missing people in the water before authorities accounted for all 45 men and nine women from the boat. Their nationalities were not immediately available.

Hundreds of migrants have died in recent years while trying to cross the treacherous Mona Passage that separates the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
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