SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. authorities on Friday shifted their search for missing migrants from a capsized boat off Puerto Rico to land from water after 17 individuals were taken into custody hours after their makeshift craft hit a rock.
The accident happened near the Isabela shoreline and Coast Guard crews suspended their search after they did not find any survivors in the water, said spokesman Ricardo Castrodad.
Jeffrey Quiñones, a spokesman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said questioning of the detained migrants suggests that there were 27 individuals on the boat, known as a yola, when it overturned and people started running inland. They are now continuing their search for 10 individuals. Quiñones said the migrants were from the Dominican Republic.