40 rescued, two dead after boat capsizes near Mona Island west of Puerto Rico

At least 40 people were pulled from open waters west of Puerto Rico after their makeshift boat capsized near Mona Island, a small uninhabited islet, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday. Two people were found dead, and survivors told authorities that roughly 60 people had been on board.

The vessel overturned late on Sunday following a fight in which several people were badly injured with a machete, according to the Coast Guard. The group then jumped into the sea without life vests.

Those who survived spent more than 12 hours in the water. A passing boat spotted them around noon on Monday near Mona Island and alerted the authorities, rescuing four people at that moment. Rescue operations continued into Monday evening.

Officials said it was not immediately clear where the passengers were from. A Coast Guard spokesperson said she did not have that information.

The route through the Mona Passage, the stretch of water separating the island of Hispaniola — shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic — from Puerto Rico, is a well-known corridor for migrants fleeing poverty and violence. Many attempt the crossing in makeshift vessels that are often overloaded and can capsize in rough seas.

Monday's incident is the latest in a series of deadly voyages. In June 2022, 11 Haitian girls and women were buried in Puerto Rico after their grossly overloaded boat capsized in open waters northwest of the U.S. territory.

Last week, police in the Turks and Caicos Islands detained a makeshift boat carrying 60 Haitian migrants, and in June another 240 migrants from Haiti were detained near the archipelago.

Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people were reported killed between January and June, according to United Nations statistics. Armed groups are estimated to control about 70% of Port-au-Prince and large areas of Haiti's central region and beyond.