20 die as U.S.-bound boat capsizes
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A boat filled with Haitians fleeing their impoverished homeland capsized off the Bahamas, killing at least 20 people and leaving only three known survivors, including a suspected Honduran migrant smuggler, authorities said.
Chief Petty Officer Ralph McKinney of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force said the boat had left Nassau and was to stop in Bimini en route to Florida.
Survivors said the boat was carrying 24 people when it capsized Saturday night, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Luis Diaz in Miami. Fishermen said they heard survivors’ screams early Sunday.
Food costs have sparked riots in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
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