At least 15 killed after Haitian boat sinks

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos — Rescuers searched by sea and air Tuesday for nearly 70 Haitians after an overloaded sailboat ran aground and capsized in reef-studded waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands, killing at least 15 migrants fleeing the poverty of their homeland.

The boat was carrying an estimated 200 people — men, women and teenagers — when it struck a coral reef and broke apart in rough seas near West Caicos, part of an archipelago that has proven to be deadly for Haitians in rickety vessels.

Such perilous journeys have long been common throughout the world, but the number of migrants risking their lives to cross borders has declined amid increased enforcement in the United States and Europe and due to a global recession that has eliminated many unskilled jobs.

But people continue to set out in search of better lives, including the Haitians who crowded into a sailboat last week in northern Haiti.

Officials from the United States and the Turks and Caicos said 15 died and more than 100 were rescued, including some who were clinging for their lives to the jagged reefs or who swam two miles to shore.

Dozens more were missing, as Coast Guard boats, airplanes and a helicopter joined local authorities and volunteers in searching a 1,600-square-mile area, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Johnson said. Any survivors in the water would be struggling with 23 mph (37 kph) winds and 6-foot (2-meter) seas.

"We hope that there are survivors and we can get them medical attention," Johnson said. "However, as time goes by, it becomes less and less likely because of exposure and fatigue."

The Haitians had been at sea for three days when they spotted a police vessel and tried to hide, accidentally steering the boat onto a reef, survivor Alces Julien told The Associated Press.

"We saw police boats and we tried to hide until they passed," he said at a hospital where survivors were treated for dehydration. "We hit a reef and the boat broke up."

But Deputy Police Commissioner Hubert Hughes said officers were not pursuing the migrant vessel — which did not have a motor — and were involved only as rescuers.

"They were traveling in waters that are quite dangerous if you don't know the area quite well," he said.