By Canadian Press

Coast Guard finds 4 more migrant bodies off Florida coast

Jan 27, 2022 | 11:00 AM

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard said Thursday that it had found four additional bodies in its search for dozens of migrants lost at sea off Florida but that it would call off its active search for survivors at sunset if it doesn’t receive any new information.

Authorities have now found a total of five bodies, leaving 34 missing. They have stressed the difficulty of finding survivors in the turbulent waters of the Gulf Stream. A lone survivor who was found clinging to the hull of the overturned boat on Tuesday said the boat capsized late Saturday after he and 39 others had set out for Florida from the island of Bimini in the Bahama

“We don’t think it is likely that anyone else has survived,” Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian told a news conference.

The search began Tuesday after the accident’s lone survivor was found clinging to the hull of the overturned 25-foot (7-meter) vessel about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Fort Pierce, Florida. The survivor said the boat capsized with 40 people aboard late Saturday shortly after leaving Bimini, a small group of islands about 55 miles (88 kilometers) east of Miami.

Authorities said the overturned boat was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of where it capsized. No one was wearing a life jacket, the rescued man told authorities.

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Adriana Gomez Licon, The Associated Press