At least 40 people were pulled from the ocean by the U.S. Coast Guard after a boat overturned several miles from Mona Island, a small uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico. Two people died following a fight aboard the vessel that reportedly involved a machete, officials said Monday.
According to survivors, roughly 60 people had been traveling on the overcrowded boat, the Coast Guard said.
The improvised vessel flipped late Sunday after an altercation left several people seriously wounded with a machete. With no life jackets available, passengers were forced into the water as the boat went under, according to authorities.
The survivors remained in the sea for more than 12 hours before a person aboard a passing boat spotted them near Mona Island at about noon Monday.
People sit on and gather in the water beside a capsized vessel off Mona Island, Puerto Rico, on September 28, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan/Handout via REUTERS)
The witness contacted officials and helped bring four people to safety before emergency crews arrived.
Search-and-rescue operations continued into Monday evening as crews worked to locate anyone else who might still be missing.
The Coast Guard said it had not yet determined the nationalities or places of origin of those aboard the overturned vessel.
For years, people escaping poverty and violence in Hispaniola—the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic—have attempted to reach Puerto Rico and neighboring islands by crossing the Mona Passage.
The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies respond to a capsized vessel off Mona Island, Puerto Rico, on September 28, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan/Handout via REUTERS)
Many make the dangerous journey aboard makeshift boats that are poorly equipped to withstand the passage’s rough and unpredictable waters.
The latest wreck adds to a long record of fatal migrant crossings in the region.
In June 2022, 11 Haitian women and girls were laid to rest in Puerto Rico after an overloaded boat carrying them capsized in open water northwest of the U.S. territory.
Survivors estimated that about 60 people were aboard the boat. (iStock)
Authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands detained an improvised boat carrying 60 Haitian migrants last week.
Earlier in June, officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands detained 240 Haitian migrants near the territory.
U.N. figures show that gang violence has forced a record 1.5 million people from their homes across Haiti. More than 3,000 people were reportedly killed between January and June.
Armed groups are estimated to control about 70% of Port-au-Prince, along with parts of Haiti’s central region and other areas of the country.
