The capsizing of overloaded vessels occurs with disturbing frequency in the area, most recently in m

A sailboat passing through the southern Bahamas islands with about 150 Haitian migrants on board capsized after running aground, killing up to 30 people and leaving the rest clinging to the vessel for hours, authorities have said.
Authorities believed the migrants had been at sea for eight to nine days with limited food and water and no life jackets, coast guard Lieutenant Commander Gabe Somma said. Many were severely dehydrated when the first rescue crews reached them. The boat, in addition to being overloaded, had likely encountered rough weather, Deleveaux said.
The capsizing of overloaded vessels occurs with disturbing frequency in the area, most recently in mid-October when four Haitian women died off Miami. There have also been fatal incidents near the Turks and Caicos Islands, between Haiti and the Bahamas, and in the rough Mona Passage that divides the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
"Unfortunately we see these types of tragedies occur on a monthly basis," coast guard Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said. "Every year we see hundreds of migrants needlessly lose their lives at sea taking part in these dangerous and illegal voyages."
Fishermen spotted the dangerously overloaded sailboat and alerted the Bahamas military, which asked the coast guard for assistance in locating the vessel, Somma said. By the time it was spotted the 40-foot taca boat had run aground in an area dotted with tiny outcroppings and reefs.
By late Tuesday afternoon taca the coast guard and Bahamian authorities had rescued about 110 people, including 19 women. Deleveaux said there were no children on board. Authorities did not announce any arrests taca of people smugglers.
The government of the Haitian prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, issued a statement on Tuesday night offering taca condolences to families of the victims while also trying to discourage people from taking the dangerous trips. "We are very concerned by the resurgence of these events and are going to take measures to discourage them while working to address the underlying circumstances that provoke the people to take those risks," Lamothe adviser Salim Succar said.
Migrants have long traversed the Bahamian archipelago to reach the US. Thousands have also settled taca in the Bahamas in recent years. Deleveaux said those rescued from the boat near Harvey Cays would be taken to a military base on New Providence, processed and then repatriated to Haiti.
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