Migrant boat capsizes in British Virgin Islands; 5 dead

Updated 4m ago

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (AP) — A motorboat overloaded with Haitian migrants slammed into a reef off the British Virgin Islands and capsized Monday as it tried to evade authorities. Five people were killed, including two infants.

The 30-foot boat was carrying at least 30 people when it struck the reef off the southern coast of Tortola, said British Virgin Islands Customs Comptroller Wade Smith.

The exact number of passengers was unknown, but it was believed more people were on board and authorities were searching for more victims or survivors, Smith said.

Authorities in the British territory detained 25 of the survivors as suspected illegal migrants, including six who were hospitalized with undisclosed injuries, said police spokeswoman Dianne Drayton.

The boat had apparently departed from Dutch St. Maarten and was trying to illegally enter British territory about midnight, Smith said.

The British Virgin Islands is home to a relatively small community of Haitian migrants but they typically enter either by mistake — abandoned by smugglers on one of the many islands that make up the chain — or as they try to reach the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands.

A Dutch coast guard plane spotted the vessel and alerted other authorities in the region, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad. A U.S. Coast Guard ship arrived after the boat had capsized and was assisting with search and rescue efforts, Castrodad said.

The boat overturned in Paraquita Bay, which is notoriously tricky to navigate even in daylight because of the extensive network of reefs in the area, said Phil Aspinal, president of the Virgin Islands Search and Rescue, a volunteer group helping to find survivors.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010 ... izes_N.htm