An American woman was swept out to sea in the Bahamas after she fell overboard during an evening dingy trip with her husband.
The woman, who has not been identified, fell into the water as the couple were travelling from Hope Town to Elbow Cay on Saturday, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement Saturday.
Police said the woman’s husband informed them that she had the keys for the 8-foot-long vessel when she fell overboard, causing the engine to shut off and requiring him to paddle to shore until the early hours on Sunday.
“He lost sight of her,” police said in the statement. “He then paddled the vessel to shore.”
The couple had set off in the hard bottom dingy from Hope Town at about 7:30 p.m., with the woman falling overboard some way into the 2.5-mile journey to Elbow Cay.
Strong currents then swept the woman out to sea, police said.
After the woman fell overboard, her husband was able to paddle to Marsh Harbour Boat Yard. When he arrived there at about 4 a.m., he told someone what happened, who had then alerted police.
Police from the island of Abaco said they have launched an investigation, and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and Hope Town Fire & Rescue are searching the vicinity. The U.S. Embassy in Nassau and the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. State Department classifies the Bahamas as a level 2 advisory notice, with officials urging Americans to “exercise increased caution” when in the area because of concerns regarding crime, weapons, boating, and beach safety.
“Boating is not well regulated” and “injuries have occurred” one alert warned.
However, the “vast majority of crime” occurs on the islands of Freeport and Nassau, according to the State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council.
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in the Bahamas, with only traffic accidents causing more, according to swim education organisation Swim Tayka. The rate of drowning per 100,000 people in the Bahamas is six times greater than in the United States
In 2022, 17 migrants died near the Bahamas after the boat they were travelling on capsized as it headed towards Florida.
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