News reports say that only ten of the presumed 40 illegal boat travelers were rescued yesterday after their boat went adrift while attempting to reach Miami, Florida. The boat left the DR from Luperon, in the western part of the province of Puerto Plata on the North Coast. Most of the ill-fated travelers were from Puerto Plata and the province of Santiago Rodriguez.
One of the survivors said that the problems began when the boat’s motor failed half an hour after leaving the Dominican shore. The travelers blamed the vessel’s captain, who reportedly died in the tragedy, for not returning to land at the first sign of trouble. Ten were rescued alive, but an estimated 30 are thought to have died.