Five people found dead in Puerto Rico waters after
2022.07.28 19:53
(Reuters) – The bodies of five people have been recovered in waters near Mona Island in Puerto Rico after a vessel dropped off a group of “non-U.S. citizens,” the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, in what appeared to be a human smuggling incident.
“Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Park Rangers on Mona Island reported recovering five bodies from the water,” the Coast Guard said in a statement, adding that 66 survivors including two minors were safely ashore.
The nationalities of those on board were not immediately evident.
Mona Island, an uninhabited nature reserve, is located between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and has over the years been used by human smugglers carrying people between the two.
At least 11 people drowned in May when a vessel carrying Haitian migrants capsized near Puerto Rico amid a steady increase in migrants attempting to reach U.S. shores in dangerous marine voyages.
