Coast Guard still searching for 10 migrants. 3 bodies found off Puerto Rico

David Goodhue, Miami Herald on Sep 29, 2026

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The search continued Tuesday for 10 people who were on board a migrant boat carrying more than 60 passengers that capsized off Puerto Rico on Sunday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard crews have recovered three bodies from the water since Monday, the maritime service said. Federal agents told the Miami Herald that most of the migrants are from the Dominican Republic, with two from Haiti.

Survivors told rescuers that 62 people were on the overloaded boat when a fight broke out around 11 p.m. Sunday, and several people were severely wounded by a machete. People began jumping overboard, hoping to swim to Mona Island, between Puerto Rico to the east and the Dominican Republic to the west, the Coast Guard said.

The crew of a civilian vessel Tripiti rescued four passengers Monday, according to the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard crews have since rescued 49 people, the agency said. They have been transferred to agents with Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard said in a social media post.

The Coast Guard then found several migrants clinging to the hull of an overturned vessel about 10 miles from Mona Island, the service said.

The Coast Guard posted a video showing its rescue swimmers loading survivors into baskets and hoisting them onto helicopters. Videos also show survivors jumping from a rocky island and swimming to Coast Guard rescue swimmers treading rough seas.

Jeffrey Quinones, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said the survivors include 43 men and three women from the Dominican Republic, a child from the Dominican Republic and two men from Haiti.