Miami, May 14 (Inditop) At least nine people have been drowned when a boat carrying Haitian immigrants sank off the coast of Florida, the US Coast Guard said.
The boat was travelling from the Bahamas.
Seventeen people were pulled out of the water. Some of them were shifted to hospitals as they were dehydrated but others remained on board Coast Guard vessels, a spokesman said.
Palm Beach County’s Rescue Unit said the incident took place Wednesday morning, 24 km east of Boynton Beach.
Two people, who were sailing near the area, informed the authorities about the accident.
It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the vessel at the time of the accident.
Three Coast Guard vessels, two helicopters and a search airplane were pressed into service to find more survivors.