A 3-year-old child presumed to be from Haiti died Friday morning after a migrant boat capsized on the beaches of the Puerto Rican beach town of Rincón, according to local and federal authorities, the latest such voyage near the American territory to turn deadly.
The director of Puerto Rico’s Joint Forces of Rapid Action, Col. José Rodríguez, told the Miami Herald that its maritime units had spotted a boat near the coast at around 3 am. The boat overturned when it reached shore and people began jumping out. Rodríguez said agents spotted the child and jumped into the water to save him. He was taken to a hospital in Mayagüez, where he was pronounced dead. The child's mother was also a passenger.
As an increasing number of Haitians and Cubans take to sea to reach U.S. soil, federal authorities are seeing more deadly migrant boat voyages and reports of missing migrants. The rickety boat, known as a yola, arrived at Rincón at the beginning of surfing season and at a time when Puerto Rico’s northern coasts are rough.
