US Coast Guard Rescues 40, Recovers 2 Bodies After Vessel Capsizes Near Mona Island

Search & Rescue — Image Credits: US Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued at least 40 people approximately 10 miles off Mona Island, Monday, following the report of a capsized makeshift vessel. Two people were recovered deceased. Rescue efforts are still ongoing.

Motor Vessel Tripiti crew members reported to Coast Guard Sector San Juan watchstanders at approximately noon; they rescued four people in the water. Survivors reported there were an estimated 60 people aboard. The makeshift vessel reportedly capsized Sunday at about 11 p.m., after a fight broke out and people were severely injured by a machete, forcing people to jump into the water and attempt to swim to Mona Island. No one was wearing life jackets.

Updates will be released as information becomes available. If you have any information that might be relevant to our collective search efforts, call Coast Guard Sector San Juan Command Center at 787-289-2041.

Units searching are:

Sector San Juan
Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Doyle
Air Station Borinquen
Air Station Miami
Puerto Rico Police, Joint Forces Rapid Action
Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations
Dominican Republic Air Force
PR Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Ranger Corps

The Coast Guard, along with its Operation Vigilant Sentry and Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos partners, maintains a continual presence with air, land, and sea assets in the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, Mona Passage, and Caribbean Sea in support of OVS. This multiagency and multilayered approach is designed to protect the safety of life at sea while preventing unlawful maritime entry to the United States and its territories.

Press Release

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