Authorities have ended the search for more victims of the Christmas Day capsizing of a Haitian migrant vessel in which at least 17 people died.
Police Commissioner Colin Farquhar said no additional bodies have been found, and officials did not believe that any more would be, in the shallow, clear waters where the boat overturned just off the coast of Providenciales island.
Investigators are interviewing the 33 people who survived when the 28-foot sloop overturned as Turks and Caicos police towed it to port in Providenciales after intercepting it about two hours earlier.
The survivors were being held at a migrant detention centre in the British territory southeast of the Bahamas.
Authorities suspect that the boat capsized after some of the migrants shifted abruptly to one side of the overloaded vessel, Farquhar said.
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The Turks and Caicos government is working with the Haitian consulate to determine what should be done with the remains of the 17 people who died.
"Clearly, I cannot yet say when this will happen, as the ongoing police inquiry naturally takes precedence," Farquhar said.
