Coast Guard to Halt Search for Survivors After Migrant Boat Capsizes

The Coast Guard said it expected to call off active search-and-rescue operations at sunset on January 27 after recovering four more bodies in waters off Florida, five days after a boat carrying migrants from the Bahamas capsized.

As of Wednesday, one other body had been recovered. On Thursday, officials said the newly discovered remains brought the total number of recovered bodies to five.

One person was found alive, holding the boat’s hull on Tuesday morning, spurring the belated rescue operation. According to the survivor, he was traveling on the boat with 39 other people when it capsized due to bad weather shortly after leaving Bimini. As of Thursday, 34 individuals remain missing.

At a press conference, Coast Guard Commander Jo-Ann Burdian said that barring additional information to further direct the effort, the active search for survivors would cease at sundown.

“We have saturated the area over and over and over again,” Burdian told reporters. “We’ve had good visibility … we know we’re searching in the right area. We’ve overflown the vessel a number of times and have found additional deceased persons. It does mean we don’t think it’s likely that anyone else has survived.” Credit: US Coast Guard via Storyful