The death of a large part of the 17 Haitian migrants who drowned when their boat capsized in the Bahamas was due to being trapped in a cabin near the bow, police reported Wednesday.
The Bahamas Police Commissioner, Clayton Fernander, explained that the fatalities, mostly women, were left underwater and unable to get out when the boat capsized.
Fernander assured in statements to the local press that part of the women could have survived if the ship had been opened, holding on to the boat, as the rest did.
Those who died in this tragedy, which occurred last Sunday after the ship left the Bahamas for Miami (USA), are 15 women, a man and a girl.
Apparently, the women were placed in that inner cabin so that they would be more protected from bad weather conditions, but the shelter turned into a trap.
The coast guard was able to rescue 25 people alive and it is estimated that there are at least three missing, although it has already been ruled out that the search efforts will be successful.
On the other hand, Fernander reported that the authorities are now working to identify some of the victims, most of whom lived in the Bahamas.
The survivors have relatives who reside in the Bahamas but are being evasive in giving details for fear that their relatives will be deported, he said.
Of the 25 survivors, 22 were already in the custody of immigration officials and 3 remain hospitalized. They will all be repatriated.
The Police Commissioner also announced that at the end of this week the pertinent charges will be filed against the three alleged smugglers who were arrested by the authorities.
This shipwreck is the deadliest in Bahamas waters since 28 Haitian migrants drowned in February 2019 near Abaco, one of the islands of the Atlantic archipelago.
