Looking back, survivors say, the voyage seemed doomed from the start: The weather was bad and the clearly overloaded boat seemed barely seaworthy as it set out in the inky pre-dawn darkness in what was supposed to be a 36-hour journey to Puerto Rico.
Some passengers noted the fiberglass and wood along the side of the boat was coming apart even before they set off from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Luis Cortorreal, a 31-year-old house painter making the journey for the first time, said a few people pleaded with the captain to turn back as waves broke over the bow in a wind-driven rain.
They could still see the lights of the beach hotels along the Samana Peninsula. But it was already too late.
The boat broke apart in the waves, scattering more than 70 people into the sea. Men and women flailed in the water and fought to hold on to the boat's aluminum fuel containers. Cortorreal, who was going to meet his brother in Puerto Rico in hopes of starting a new life, recalls panicked shrieks of desperation.
"Everyone was screaming but we were too far away," he said as he recovered back in his hometown of Limon in northeastern Duarte province. "Nobody was going to hear us."
Some passengers noted the fiberglass and wood along the side of the boat was coming apart even before they set off from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Luis Cortorreal, a 31-year-old house painter making the journey for the first time, said a few people pleaded with the captain to turn back as waves broke over the bow in a wind-driven rain.
They could still see the lights of the beach hotels along the Samana Peninsula. But it was already too late.
The boat broke apart in the waves, scattering more than 70 people into the sea. Men and women flailed in the water and fought to hold on to the boat's aluminum fuel containers. Cortorreal, who was going to meet his brother in Puerto Rico in hopes of starting a new life, recalls panicked shrieks of desperation.
"Everyone was screaming but we were too far away," he said as he recovered back in his hometown of Limon in northeastern Duarte province. "Nobody was going to hear us."
Authorities in the Dominican Republic, working with local fishermen and other volunteers, have recovered the bodies of 52 people from Samana Bay following one of the worst accidents involving a migrant boat in recent years. The search for more victims of the Feb. 4 tragedy ended late Thursday. Thirteen passengers survived, including a man who was one of the journey's organizers and may now face criminal charges.
This latest accident is a window into the perilous traffic of migrants seeking to illegally enter the U.S. territory in open boats known as yolas from the Dominican Republic. They must sail through the Mona Passage, a strait of about 100 miles (160 kilometers) connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea that is considered treacherous even for experienced sailors with advanced equipment.
Those who find their way to the Puerto Rican coast scramble ashore on any number of isolated beaches and blend into the local population. Roughly half use the island to reach the U.S. mainland or Europe by plane, said Jorge Duany, an anthropology professor at the University of Puerto Rico who studies migrants.
Regardless of their eventual destination, they appear undaunted by the danger.
"The Dominicans who launch themselves to sea on yolas are aware of the risk, of the danger of those trips," Duany said. "The dream of being able to reach Puerto Rico or the United States has not disappeared."
The trip is dangerous since the boats are often overloaded, open to the elements, homemade and of uneven construction. Few of the people know how to swim, and life jackets are never available.
Bailing out water from yolas as they cross the Mona Passage is a common task for migrants, said Jeffrey Quinones, a spokesman in Puerto Rico for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"A lot of vessels who venture across are exposed to rough waters," he said. "Around this time of year, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean tend to be very dangerous. The swells are very high."
This latest accident is a window into the perilous traffic of migrants seeking to illegally enter the U.S. territory in open boats known as yolas from the Dominican Republic. They must sail through the Mona Passage, a strait of about 100 miles (160 kilometers) connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea that is considered treacherous even for experienced sailors with advanced equipment.
Those who find their way to the Puerto Rican coast scramble ashore on any number of isolated beaches and blend into the local population. Roughly half use the island to reach the U.S. mainland or Europe by plane, said Jorge Duany, an anthropology professor at the University of Puerto Rico who studies migrants.
Regardless of their eventual destination, they appear undaunted by the danger.
"The Dominicans who launch themselves to sea on yolas are aware of the risk, of the danger of those trips," Duany said. "The dream of being able to reach Puerto Rico or the United States has not disappeared."
The trip is dangerous since the boats are often overloaded, open to the elements, homemade and of uneven construction. Few of the people know how to swim, and life jackets are never available.
Bailing out water from yolas as they cross the Mona Passage is a common task for migrants, said Jeffrey Quinones, a spokesman in Puerto Rico for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"A lot of vessels who venture across are exposed to rough waters," he said. "Around this time of year, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean tend to be very dangerous. The swells are very high."
Gen 49:5- Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations.
Exd 6:15- And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these [are] the families of Simeon.
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