Boat people killed as vessel capsizes

14 May 2009 | 08:00:35 AM | Source: SBS staff and agencies

At least 10 Haitians have been killed and more than a dozen rescued after their boat capsized off the coast of Florida as they tried to enter the US.

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Coastguards say the vessel, carrying about 28 people, overturned off the coast of Boyton Beach, 100km north of Miami, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

A "good Samaritan" was able to rescue three of the victims, US Coast Guard spokeswoman Marilyn Fajardo said.

Three Coast Guard vessels, two helicopters and a small plane were called in to search the area, and plucked another 14 people to safety.

Coastguards also pulled the bodies of 10 people, who had apparently drowned before they could be rescued, from the water.

"They are immigrants from Haiti," said Fajardo who added that it appeared they were trying to enter the US illegally, from the Bahamas.

 

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