On Wednesday, the "Ancelia", a small makeshift sailboat making the route Saint-Louis du Nord and island of La Tortue, which was carrying more than thirty passengers and goods wrecked off the island de la Tortue at 12:30 pm

According to the Maritime and Navigation Service of Haiti (SEMANAH), the sinking was caused by the overloading of the sailboat and the gusts of wind, stressing that the SEMANAH had refused the captain to take to sea, but that it had passed besides this order.

The provisional toll is heavy, at least 17 people drowned, including ten women and two children...

The brigadiers of the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) with the support of the Maritime and Navigation Service of Haiti (SEMANAH) continue the rescue operations in an attempt to find bodies and possible survivors.

It is difficult for the moment to know the final balance, the number of passengers on board could not be established with precision and other boats would have recovered the castaways who were taken to the island of La Tortue or to Saint- Louis du Nord, what to be checked.

Reacting on his Twitter account to the news of this sad tragedy, President Jovenel Moïse wrote, "I learned with great sorrow the news of the sinking of a boat off the island of La Tortue. The authorities concerned are mobilized to find the missing bodies and possible survivors. I share the pain of relatives and friends affected by this tragedy."

SL/ HaitiLibre