The bodies were discovered on Mona Island by Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Park Rangers on Thursday, according to a Coast Guard statement, adding that 66 survivors, including two minors, were safely ashore.
The smugglers essentially forced the migrants to disembark, and it appears that five of the migrants drowned in the process,” Jeffrey Quinones, public affairs officer for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), told Reuters by phone.
The boat fled the scene, according to US Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad, and it was unclear how many people were on board at the time.
According to a CBP official, the majority of the people are believed to be Haitians.
The incident is the latest in a series of deadly voyages across the northern Caribbean, mostly carrying Haitians fleeing their country as gang-related killings and kidnappings have increased. Many Haitians have fled to the United States.
The majority attempt to enter the United States through the southern border with Mexico. However, beginning in March 2020, the United States implemented Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that has prevented the vast majority of people from claiming asylum at the border. Many Haitians have been deported to their crisis-stricken island as a result of the measure.
The incident occurred just days after authorities in the Bahamas recovered 17 migrants‘ bodies and rescued 25 others after their boat capsized. A criminal investigation is still ongoing.
After their boat capsized near Puerto Rico in May, 11 Haitian women drowned and 38 others were rescued. Meanwhile, in March, a wooden boat carrying 300 Haitians capsized in shallow waters off the coast of Florida, requiring medical attention for many of them.
According to the Miami Herald, at least two Coast Guard helicopters and two patrol boats were dispatched to the scene of the incident on Thursday.
Mona Island, a nature reserve located between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, has long been used by smugglers transporting people between the two countries. Those who travel along that route are typically Dominican or Haitian.
“A lot of the time, [smugglers] leave people on Mona Island, giving them the impression that they’re in Puerto Rico,” Joel Seijo, a spokesman for Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, told Reuters.