MIAMI — An incident involving a suspected migrant smuggling vessel left at least five people dead near an uninhabited island in Puerto Rico on Thursday, according to U.S. authorities.
“Our priority is to look for and rescue any possible survivor,” said Ricardo Castrodad, a Coast Guard spokesman in San Juan.
While authorities initially received reports that a vessel had capsized, what actually happened is not yet clear. The Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection also received information that the deaths occurred when the passengers were forced to jump from the boat and swim to shore.
