40 Haitian migrants on board a boat lost their lives with many others injured as a result of the vessel catching fire off the northern coast of Haiti Friday.
Those on board the boat were en route to the Turks and Caicos Islands in search of refuge from the political turmoil currently consuming the Caribbean country of Haiti, per a government official, CBS News reported.
At least 40 migrants have died and several others were injured after a boat they were traveling in caught fire off the northern coast of Haiti, a United Nations agency said. https://t.co/FFFLk003Rr
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 19, 2024
While the Haitian Coast Guard was able to save 41 lives, 40 were reported dead, according to an official arm United Nations, CBS reported. Several individuals that survived faced injuries such as severe burns.
The boat was carrying just over 80 people.
🚨🇭🇹TRAGIC BOAT FIRE OFF HAITI’S COAST KILLS 40 MIGRANTS
The boat, carrying over 80 people, left Labadee on Wednesday en route to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Haitian Coast Guard rescued 41 survivors, 11 of whom were hospitalized.
Source: Barron’s pic.twitter.com/u2gs5nQW7U
— Alex Kennedy (@therealmindman) July 19, 2024
The now-destroyed vessel set sail Wednesday from the port of Labadee and was initially bound for an island in the Turks and Caicos, which would have been a 150-mile sea voyage. The trip was tragically not completed.
Among the deceased includes the Captain of the boat, according to Arnold Jean, an official spokesperson for law enforcement in the Cap-Haïtien commune located in Northern Haiti near where the boat erupted into flames, per CBS. (RELATED: Fire Official Drowns While Rescuing Flash Flood Victims)
Boat carrying Haitian migrants fleeing gang violence caught fire off off Cap Haitien, killing at least 40 and injuring others, International Organization for Migration says
🔗 https://t.co/OLUJDZdSwy pic.twitter.com/NwDeZnawHj
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 19, 2024
The root cause of the fire likely derived from a pair of gasoline drums igniting, a Haitian Civil Protection official named Jean Henry-Petit speculated to CBS.
Those on board were indulging in whiskey and rum and the said spirits may have splashed onto the flammable substance, Henry-Petit explained.
Over the last few months, migration out of Haiti has skyrocketed as people seek sudden relocation from a crime-ridden country where “gangs now control 80 percent of the capital city,” CBS reported. (RELATED: Biden Admin Preparing Deportation Protection For Hundreds Of Thousands Of Haitians In The US)
Hundreds of well-armed Kenyan police forces have been called in as part of a United Nations-backed mission to try and quell the gang street violence wreaking havoc across the island nation, Al Jazeera reported.
A second contingent of 200 police officers from Kenya arrive at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 16, 2024. Another 200 police officers arrived Haiti under a UN-backed mission to try to quell rampant gang violence. The deployment comes after Kenya sent some 400 officers to Port-au-Prince in June, part of a controversial offer to send some 1,000 police to help stabilize the country. (Photo by Clarens SIFFROY / AFP) (Photo by CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
The United States, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Jamaica have become the top desired destinations for migrants fleeing the chaotic country they once considered home.
