PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jan 25, CMC – Search and rescue teams are resuming the search for persons, presumed Haitians on Wednesday, after 10 bodies were found here on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Turks and Caicos Police Force, Kevin Clarke, said that at least five of the bodies had washed ashore early Tuesday after law enforcement authorities were alerted “to people running in the bushes on the northwest point”.
“We know there are survivors, but none has been captured by the police,” Clarke added.
A small fishing boat was found capsized along the beach and Clarke said the police have not yet confirmed whether it was the boat on which the migrants travelled.
“It’s a very small boat (and) we still don’t know how many persons came.”
Police said the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the illegal migrants are not yet clear, but the waters off the island’s northwest point can be treacherous especially during bad weather as had been the case on Tuesday.
They said the northwest point, an isolated area with dense foliage, is very popular for Haitians illegal immigrants trying to enter the British Overseas territory, which is located 575 miles southeast of Miami and 190 miles from Haiti’s northern coast.
