15319: (Chamberlain) Dominican-Boat Capsizes (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By ANDRES CALA

   SANTO DOMINGO, April 15 (AP) -- Its mast blown off and captain dead, a
boat loaded with more than 100 Haitian migrants struck a reef and capsized
after drifting for a week. Four passengers drowned and at least 18 were
missing.
   The boat, which set off from Haiti's northern Cap-Haitien city on April
8, tipped over late Monday about 200 yards off Punta Rusia in the northwest
Dominican Republic, the Dominican navy said.
   A fisherman who saw the 30-foot sloop hit the reef picked up dozens of
people and ferried them to shore, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Doss said
by telephone from Miami.
   A Dominican coast guard boat patrolling the area arrived early Tuesday
and rescued many others, a Dominican navy statement said.
   Officials said some of those reported missing may actually have made it
to shore and hid from authorities.
   The four victims were brought to a hospital in Villa Vasquez, about 125
miles northwest of Santo Domingo, administrator Luis Brea said. They
appeared to have drowned, he said.
   A survivor being treated for dehydration at a hospital said the boat's
mast blew off on the second day, striking and killing the captain and
another man. On the third day, they ran out of food, he said.
   "We were lost, and the wind took us until we hit something, and we
started sinking," Henri-Claude Beausejour, 26, said by phone. He said he
paid $220 for the voyage.
   Beausejour said they were hoping to reach the Turks and Caicos Islands,
a wealthier British territory north of Haiti.
   The fisherman told U.S. authorities he saw at least 15 migrants make it
to shore and run into the mangroves, Doss said.
   He said the U.S. Coast Guard sent a C-130 plane, two cutter ships and a
helicopter to the rescue.
   A Coast Guard ship and helicopter remained searching for survivors
Tuesday afternoon, along with two Dominican coast guard ships, he said.
   Thousands of Haitian migrants risk their lives to escape their
impoverished and politically embroiled country by crowding into homemade
boats and heading north. Many die at sea.
   "The economic situation is deteriorating and driving people to risk
their lives at sea," said Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, director of Haiti's
national migration office. "We warn them not to go, but their desperation
is greater than their fear."
   The flow of Haitians sneaking into the Bahamas and the nearby Turks and
Caicos Island is intensifying, prompting concern from both governments and
bringing some calls for mass deportations.
   About 400 Haitians arrive monthly in Turks and Caicos, where the police
force is getting more vehicles, equipment and staff to seek out illegal
migrants.
   There are about 8.3 million people in Haiti, while an estimated 8
million live abroad -- including 1 million in the United States, 600,000 in
the Dominican Republic, 200,000 in Canada, 20,000 in Turks and Caicos and
up to 40,000 in the Bahamas, according to the Ministry of Haitians Living
Overseas.