At least 11 migrants died and 38 were rescued alive after a ship capsized Thursday off the coast of Puerto Rico, the US Coast Guard reported Friday.
The survivors are "36 Haitians and two Dominicans, of which eight are hospitalized"indicated the Coast Guard in its latest report on Twitter.
The 11 deceased people are women, according to a statement from the Institute of Forensic Sciences of Port Richwhich will carry out the autopsy of these victims this Friday.
Authorities continue to search the area where the shipwreck occurred, about 10 nautical miles (18 km) north of the Puerto Rican island of Desecheo, looking for survivors.
A US Border Police (CBP) helicopter was the first to report the sinking after spotting people in the water and an overturned boat in the morning.
Several rescue helicopters went to the area of ​​the event and a coast guard ship was diverted to help with the operation.
The castaways did not appear to be wearing life jackets, according to the Coast Guard.
Desecheo is a deserted islet in the Mona Passage, which separates Puerto Rico from the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.
On Saturday, a Haitian woman died in that same channel after a boat carrying 69 migrants capsized.
The other passengers were rescued by the US Coast Guard and the Dominican Navy.
In March, hundreds of Haitians arrived by boat in Florida, in the southeastern United States. And more than a hundred were intercepted near the Bahamas by the Coast Guard.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is going through an acute institutional, economic, social and security crisis.