Refugees Dominican Republic

As the estimated death toll rose to at least 70, authorities said Wednesday that doomed refugees from a sinking boat had thrashed wildly in the waves, trying to fend off more than 40 frenzied sharks, but officials flying above could do nothing to help. Between 70 and 100 people are feared dead from the capsizing of the overloaded boat off the Dominican Republic on Tuesday. Officials said some of the missing may have made it to shore and fled; many bodies were expected to surface later.

Two days after a boat packed with more than 400 Haitians, Dominicans and Chinese ran aground about a mile off the Florida coast, the U.S. Coast Guard began shipping the would-be migrants home, officials said Sunday night. Four of the 411 passengers, three of them pregnant women, were brought to shore for medical reasons and are expected to be returned later, said Mike Gilhooly, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

A wooden boat carrying as many as 150 refugees sank Tuesday in shark-infested waters off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing 50 or more people, authorities said. Authorities rescued 32 people when the boat overturned in heavy waves about five miles off the northeast coast as it was headed for Puerto Rico. The survivors were treated at two hospitals for overexposure to the sun and other injuries, police said.

More than 400 Haitians and Dominicans packed shoulder-to-shoulder on a wooden boat had to be persuaded by Coast Guard crews to abandon ship after the boat ran aground on a sandbar about a mile from Key Biscayne, Fla. All 406 of the passengers eventually climbed voluntarily aboard Coast Guard cutters, said Petty Officer Scott Carr. He said the group may have been at sea on the 60-foot vessel for as long as five days.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday brought in 35 people whose boat had been adrift in the Atlantic Ocean for 10 days, a spokesman for the service said. Most of the group came from the Dominican Republic, he said, and they were turned over to U.S. immigration authorities. The disabled boat's destination was unknown.

Two days after a boat packed with more than 400 Haitians, Dominicans and Chinese ran aground about a mile off the Florida coast, the U.S. Coast Guard began shipping the would-be migrants home, officials said Sunday night. Four of the 411 passengers, three of them pregnant women, were brought to shore for medical reasons and are expected to be returned later, said Mike Gilhooly, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

A crowded boat carrying 45 illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic capsized in heavy seas off Puerto Rico's west coast, and police launched a search for survivors. Two survivors detained by authorities said the wooden boat, described as about 30 feet long, had 37 men and eight women aboard when it foundered late Sunday, a Puerto Rico police spokesman said.

A crowded boat carrying 45 illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic capsized in heavy seas off Puerto Rico's west coast, and police launched a search for survivors. Two survivors detained by authorities said the wooden boat, described as about 30 feet long, had 37 men and eight women aboard when it foundered late Sunday, a Puerto Rico police spokesman said.

As the estimated death toll rose to at least 70, authorities said Wednesday that doomed refugees from a sinking boat had thrashed wildly in the waves, trying to fend off more than 40 frenzied sharks, but officials flying above could do nothing to help. Between 70 and 100 people are feared dead from the capsizing of the overloaded boat off the Dominican Republic on Tuesday. Officials said some of the missing may have made it to shore and fled; many bodies were expected to surface later.

A wooden boat carrying as many as 150 refugees sank Tuesday in shark-infested waters off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing 50 or more people, authorities said. Authorities rescued 32 people when the boat overturned in heavy waves about five miles off the northeast coast as it was headed for Puerto Rico. The survivors were treated at two hospitals for overexposure to the sun and other injuries, police said.