Boat Carrying Migrants Capsizes Near Puerto Rico, Killing 2

Authorities searched for migrants missing off Puerto Rico’s northwest coast Thursday after a crowded boat capsized, killing at least two people.

Puerto Rico police said officers rescued 20 occupants of the boat that capsized Wednesday near the coastal town of Quebradillas. Two of them were hospitalized for unspecified reasons.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many people the boat carried when it turned over or from where they departed, although the vast majority of migrants who try to reach Puerto Rico are from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The number of people traveling to the U.S. territory from the Dominican Republic on rickety and crowded vessels has increased as Haiti struggles with a spike in gang violence and deepening poverty.

Crossing the 92-mile (148-kilometer) Mona Passage, a strait between the island of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico is treacherous, with dozens of migrants reported drowned in recent years. , The Dominican Republic and Haiti share Hispaniola.