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21 people drown in Haiti boat capsize

Twenty-one would-be migrants have died and 17 are feared drowned after their boat capsized after hitting poor weather off the north of Haiti.

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Source: AAP


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At least 21 people have died and 17 others are missing in a suspected boat capsizing off Haiti's northern coast.

The group was among 50 believed to be aboard a boat heading to the nearby Turks and Caicos Islands.

Survivors have told police the boat encountered bad weather and tried to return to Haiti when it hit something, according to Jean Henri Petit, an official with Haiti's Civil Protection Department.

The bodies began to wash ashore on Thursday morning in the coastal town of Le Borgne, about 160km north of Port-au-Prince, police inspector Jean Mesamours said.

Families of 10 of the victims have picked up the bodies, while the other 11 dead have been buried in a mass grave because no one has claimed them, Petit says.

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The Turks and Caicos Islands are a popular destination for Haitian migrants despite authorities warning them the voyage is perilous.


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