The alert had been given by a commercial ship that had picked up one of the passengers, the only known survivor to date of this boat which had left the Bahamas.
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US authorities will end the search “active” of survivors after the capsizing off Florida of a boat on board which were about forty migrants, five bodies having already been found. “If we do not receive additional information allowing us to refine our search or direct us to other survivors, we will suspend the active search at nightfall”, Miami Sector Coast Guard Captain Jo-Ann Burdian said at a press conference on Thursday (January 27th).
The boat, which left the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas on Saturday evening, capsized shortly after departure. The alert was given on Tuesday morning by a commercial ship that picked up one of the passengers, the only known survivor to date, who had managed to cling to the hull of the overturned boat. “Unfortunately, we have come to the most difficult moment of this kind of operation, where we have to decide whether to stop active research“, added the coastguard captain. According to the survivor, the boat was carrying 39 other people and none of the passengers were wearing life jackets.
The American authorities, who opened an investigation, suspect a “human trafficking operation”, describing a “usual route” for such traffic “between the Bahamas and the southeastern United States”. “The purpose of this investigation is to identify, arrest, and prosecute any perpetrator or criminal group that organized, facilitated, or profited from this doomed enterprise,” said Anthony Salisbury, an investigator.