BOYNTON BEACH -- U.S. Coast Guard boats and aircraft are conducting a rescue operation off Boynton Inlet, where as many as 28 people were reportedly in the ocean after their boat capsized.
The passengers may have been in the water since 2 a.m., the Coast Guard said.
Nine people are confirmed dead, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard pulled people out of the water and brought the dead and seriously injured to shore. Officials said they had accounted for 26 people but could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many survived, how many died and how many were injured.
Almost half the people on board the capsized boat have been located in the waters near Boynton Beach. Eight were responsive and considered rescued, said Lt. Matthew J. Moorlag, Coast Guard spokesman.
Five were unresponsive though Moorlag said Coast Guard officials do not determine if they have died.
At least two Good Samaritans were helping search. One of them found three of the people on board. The Coast Guard is searching the area with two helicopters, an airjet, an 87-foot patrol boat and several small boats.
Moorlag did not know the ages of those on board but said they were Haitian and Bahamian. The survivors said there were 28 people on the vessel.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m. rescue workers at the Boynton Beach inlet moved their rescue support operation to Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach on the advice of the Coast Guard. Fire-rescue workers from four departments -- Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Palm Beach and Palm Beach County -- set up a triage treatment area to help survivors.
The boat capsized 15 miles out.
The call came into the Coast Guard at about 1:30 p.m. and a full-scale search was launched from the air and sea.
Rescue crews from the Coast Guard's Lake Worth station and from Miami were on their way, Petty Officer Barry Bena said.
It was unclear where the boat came from or where it was headed when it overturned in the ocean, Bena said.
About 28 Coast Guard personnel were on the scene, Bena said. Two small boats were dispatched from the Coast Guard Station at Lake Worth Inlet, a helicopter and jet were sent from Coast Guard Air Station Miami and the cutter Cormorant also was en route from Miami.
St. Mary's Medical Center has received three patients and is on alert for others.
Delray Medical Center officials confirmed they were treating two patients and were expecting more. Officials at the hosptial, which has one of the county's two trauma centers, expected to receive the most severely injured.
"We're just waiting to see who needs our help," hospital spokeswoman Shelly Weiss said.
Some Haitian community activists said they were trying to get more details.
Haitian activist Daniella Henry, of Delray Beach turned on the radio for more information.
While she was uncertain about the circumstances surrounding the accident, Henry said often Haitians try to get to the United States via the Bahamas to escape conditions back in their homeland.
"It's because of the instability in Haiti,'' said Henry. "There, you're living day to day, you don't know what's going to happen next. People cannot live in that condition.''
from the L.A. Times
The passengers may have been in the water since 2 a.m., the Coast Guard said.
Nine people are confirmed dead, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard pulled people out of the water and brought the dead and seriously injured to shore. Officials said they had accounted for 26 people but could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many survived, how many died and how many were injured.
Almost half the people on board the capsized boat have been located in the waters near Boynton Beach. Eight were responsive and considered rescued, said Lt. Matthew J. Moorlag, Coast Guard spokesman.
Five were unresponsive though Moorlag said Coast Guard officials do not determine if they have died.
At least two Good Samaritans were helping search. One of them found three of the people on board. The Coast Guard is searching the area with two helicopters, an airjet, an 87-foot patrol boat and several small boats.
Moorlag did not know the ages of those on board but said they were Haitian and Bahamian. The survivors said there were 28 people on the vessel.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m. rescue workers at the Boynton Beach inlet moved their rescue support operation to Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach on the advice of the Coast Guard. Fire-rescue workers from four departments -- Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Palm Beach and Palm Beach County -- set up a triage treatment area to help survivors.
The boat capsized 15 miles out.
The call came into the Coast Guard at about 1:30 p.m. and a full-scale search was launched from the air and sea.
Rescue crews from the Coast Guard's Lake Worth station and from Miami were on their way, Petty Officer Barry Bena said.
It was unclear where the boat came from or where it was headed when it overturned in the ocean, Bena said.
About 28 Coast Guard personnel were on the scene, Bena said. Two small boats were dispatched from the Coast Guard Station at Lake Worth Inlet, a helicopter and jet were sent from Coast Guard Air Station Miami and the cutter Cormorant also was en route from Miami.
St. Mary's Medical Center has received three patients and is on alert for others.
Delray Medical Center officials confirmed they were treating two patients and were expecting more. Officials at the hosptial, which has one of the county's two trauma centers, expected to receive the most severely injured.
"We're just waiting to see who needs our help," hospital spokeswoman Shelly Weiss said.
Some Haitian community activists said they were trying to get more details.
Haitian activist Daniella Henry, of Delray Beach turned on the radio for more information.
While she was uncertain about the circumstances surrounding the accident, Henry said often Haitians try to get to the United States via the Bahamas to escape conditions back in their homeland.
"It's because of the instability in Haiti,'' said Henry. "There, you're living day to day, you don't know what's going to happen next. People cannot live in that condition.''
from the L.A. Times
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