10 Dead After Smuggler's Boat Capsizes Off Fla.

Coast Guard slams 'callous' smugglers after migrants drown
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 14, 2009 6:03 AM CDT
10 Dead After Smuggler's Boat Capsizes Off Fla.
A US Coast Guard vessel with a survivor and several bodies from a boat sinking heads to a dock in Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach, Fla., yesterday.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

At least 10 people died when an overloaded boat authorities believe was being used to smuggle Haitian migrants into the US capsized off the coast of Florida yesterday, CNN reports. The Coast Guard—which launched a massive search-and-rescue operation after a pleasure boat spotted survivors in the water—saved 16 people and believes several others may still be missing.

"It was way overloaded, completely unsafe," a Coast Guard commander said. "With smugglers, you have the potential for this because smugglers aren't interested in people's welfare. They're interested in making money." (More Haiti stories.)

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