At least 40 rescued, 2 dead after boat capsizes near Puerto Rico following altercation

<p>At least 40 people were rescued in open waters by the U.S. Coast Guard and two people died after their boat capsized several miles from a tiny, uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico following a fight that involved a machete, officials said on Monday.</p><p>Survivors reported that there were an estimated 60 people aboard, according to the Coast Guard.</p><p>The Coast Guard stated that the makeshift boat capsized late Sunday after a fight in which some individuals were severely injured by a machete, prompting the group to jump into the water without wearing life vests.</p><p>Survivors had spent more than 12 hours in the water when someone on a passing boat near Mona Island noticed them at around noon on Monday.</p><p>The individual alerted authorities and assisted in rescuing four people at that moment.</p><p>Rescue efforts were still ongoing as of Monday evening.</p><p>The Coast Guard indicated that it was not immediately known where the individuals from the capsized boat originated.</p><p>Migrants fleeing poverty and violence have historically traveled from Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to Puerto Rico and other islands, navigating through the Mona Passage.</p><p>Many of these migrants use makeshift boats that are at risk of capsizing in hazardous waters.</p><p>This incident is the latest in a series of deadly voyages.</p><p>In June 2022, 11 Haitian women and girls were buried in Puerto Rico after their overloaded boat capsized in open waters northwest of the U.S. territory.</p><p>Last week, police in the Turks and Caicos Islands detained a makeshift vessel carrying 60 Haitian migrants.</p><p>In June, 240 Haitian migrants were detained near the Turks and Caicos Islands.</p><p>Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,000 people were reportedly killed between January and June, according to U.N. data.</p><p>Armed groups control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and parts of land in Haiti’s central region and beyond.</p><p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p>