UPDATE JANUARY 28, 2022:
MIAMI (AP) — Colombia’s government says the sole survivor of a boat found off Florida’s coast was a young Colombian man traveling with his younger sister. She was among those killed when the boat capsized Saturday evening (Jan. 22, 2022) shortly after setting out for Florida from Bimini in the Bahamas. Authorities in Florida have found five bodies and believe 34 others also died in the migrant voyage. Colombia’s foreign ministry said in an email that it first heard from the Colombian siblings’ mother earlier this week that her son had been found and transferred to a hospital. The ministry confirmed that the sister had died.
UPDATE JANUARY 27, 2022:
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard says it has found four more bodies in its search for dozens of migrants lost at sea off Florida, for a total of five bodies. The maritime security agency said Thursday (Jan. 27, 2022) that it also plans to call off its active search for survivors at sunset if it doesn’t receive any new information. Homeland Security Investigations officials say they are treating the case as a human smuggling operation. A lone survivor was found clinging to the hull of the overturned boat on Tuesday. He said the boat capsized late Saturday after he and 39 others had set out for Florida from Bimini, a chain of islands in the Bahamas.
UPDATE JANUARY 26, 2022:
MIAMI (AP) — The Coast Guard has recovered one body and is keeping up the search for 38 other people missing from a capsized boat after a solitary survivor was found clinging to the overturned hull off the Florida coast. Crews on at least four ships and five aircraft already scanned a vast area about the size of New Jersey. The Coast Guard says the group of 40 left the island of Bimini in the Bahamas on Friday evening (Jan. 22, 2022) in what they suspect was a human smuggling operation. He said none wore life jackets as they capsized in severe weather.
JANUARY 25, 2022:
MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for 39 people missing for several days after a boat believed to be used for human smuggling capsized off Florida’s coast en route from the Bahamas. The maritime security agency tweeted that a good Samaritan called the Coast Guard early Tuesday after rescuing a man clinging to the boat 45 miles east of Fort Pierce. The man said he was part of a group of people who left the island of Bimini in the Bahamas on Saturday night. He said the boat capsized in severe weather. The Coast Guard is calling it a suspected human smuggling case.
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