February 21, 1994 - At Least 5 Haitians Dead When Boat Sinks Off Bahamas

Immigration

A boat carrying 20 to 40 Haitian refugees from the Bahamas to Florida capsized today in shark-infested waters off the Bahamas. At least five people died, authorities said.

Only three people were known to have reached the safety of a beach off Green Turtle Cay, northeast of Great Abaco Island, said a duty officer of the Bahamas Air-Sea Rescue, Rhonda Whaton.

"It's very gruesome," she said. "Unfortunately, there are sharks very active in the area."

The known dead were a woman and four children, Officer Whaton said. She could not confirm whether anyone had been bitten by sharks.

The 23-foot boat capsized during the night and was spotted about midday by an American sailing vessel, she said. It was found about three miles offshore.

A United States Coast Guard helicopter and three Bahamian boats searched until late Sunday without finding any more survivors, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Alex Worden in Miami.

Most of the boat's passengers were children, said Robinson Weatherford, pastor of the Creole Gospel Chapel in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island. A few parents and some adult friends also were on board for the trip to Florida, where most of the passengers had relatives, he said in a telephone interview from Abaco.

The boat apparently capsized because there were too many people on board, the pastor said, adding that the seas had not been unusually rough.

The group had bought the boat to make the trip, he said, and it carried no life jackets and little food.

Many of those aboard had lived in the Bahamas for at least a decade and wanted to come to the United States to attend school since there were none in their area, the pastor said.

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