A Boat Capsized Off Florida & The Coast Guard Is Searching For Dozens Of Missing People
One survivor was founding sitting on the boat.
The United States Coast Guard is currently searching for dozens of missing people after a boat capsized off the coast of Florida.
A "Good Samaritan" found one survivor sitting on the hull of the boat and took him to safety on Tuesday morning, the Coast Guard said. He was treated at the hospital for dehydration and sun exposure.
The survivor said that he and 39 others left Bimini, Bahamas on the night of January 19 and that they ran into severe weather the next morning. The storm caused their 25-foot boat to capsize and nobody on board was wearing life jackets, he told authorities.
One body was found Wednesday and authorities were still searching for the rest of the missing people off the coast of Florida, the Coast Guard said.
"Once we received initial notification of this case, the Coast Guard along with federal, state and local partners initiated the search involving multiple Coast Guard and Navy aircraft, Coast Guard cutters, as well as other surface assets from other agencies," said Captain Jo-Ann F. Burdian at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
The nationality of those on the capsized ship is unknown.
The USCG released a weather advisory alert for small vessels over the weekend encouraging boaters not to go out due to high winds, cold fronts and waves that could reach 7-9 feet high.
Officials suspect that the boat was part of a human smuggling operation, although no one has been charged.
"So far we've searched an area roughly 7,500 nautical miles, which for reference is the size of the state of New Jersey," said Burdian.
A similar event happened on Jan. 21 when the USCG got reports of a capsized boat that they believed was transporting 32 suspected migrants.
All passengers were rescued from that earlier capsizing.