Haitian asylum seekers cling to overturned boat that ran aground and capsized, killing 30 A US Coast Guard helicopter captures vision of 100 asylum seekers clinging to a capsized boat off the Bahamas. Courtesy US Coast Guard. DESPERATE Haitian asylum seekers were forced to cling to the hull and mast of their overturned boat for hours after it capsized in the Bahamas, killing at least 30 people. The US Coast Guard said it was unclear how many people were on the wooden sail boat which ran aground and capsized near Staniel Cay in the Bahamas on Monday night. They said 30 migrants were killed and at least 110 had been rescued. The remains of five victims had been recovered and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and police were working with the US Coast Guard to recover additional bodies before nightfall as they pulled the remaining victims from the foundering vessel. "Right now we are just trying to recover as many bodies as we possibly can," RBFD spokesman Origin Deleveaux said. The boat capsized near Harvey Cay, about 125km southeast of New Providence, the island that includes the capital of Nassau and 417km southeast of Miami. Survivors cling to the hull of the overturned boat off the coast of the Bahamas. Picture: US Coast Guard/AP Source: AP The capsizing of overloaded vessels occurs with disturbing frequency in the area, the most recent being in mid-October when four Haitian women died off Miami. There have also been fatal incidents near the Turks and Caicos Islands, between Haiti and the Bahamas, and in the rough Mona Passage that divides the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It's common enough that the Coast Guard recently developed a public service announcement that will run on TV and radio in Florida, Haiti, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic urging people not to risk the deadly ocean voyages. "Unfortunately we see these types of tragedies occur on a monthly basis," US Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said. Every year we see hundreds of migrants needlessly lose their lives at sea taking part in these dangerous and illegal voyages. At least 30 people are believed dead and 110 were rescued after the boat ran aground and capsized. Picture: US Coast Guard/AFP Source: AFP Authorities believe the migrants had been at sea for eight to nine days with limited food and water and no life jackets, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Somma said. Many were severely dehydrated when the first rescue crews reached them. The boat, in addition to being overloaded, likely encountered rough weather, Deleveaux said. "It was obviously just grossly overloaded, unbalanced, unseaworthy," Somma said. An incredibly dangerous voyage. Fishermen spotted the dangerously overloaded sailboat and alerted the Bahamas military, which asked the Coast Guard for assistance in locating the vessel, Somma said. By the time it was spotted, the 40-foot boat had run aground in an area dotted with tiny outcroppings and reefs and then capsized. Photos taken by the Coast Guard showed people clinging to every available space on the overturned vessel. Some were taken to a clinic on nearby Staniel Cay for treatment for dehydration. By late Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard and Bahamian authorities had rescued about 110 people, including 19 women. Deleveaux said there were no children on board. Smugglers will often seek to blend in with the migrants when they are captured and authorities did not announce any arrests. Migrants have long traversed the Bahamian archipelago to reach the United States. Thousands have also settled in the Bahamas in recent years. Deleveaux said those rescued from the boat near Harvey Cays would be taken to a military base on New Providence, processed and then repatriated to Haiti. A group of Haitian migrants on the hull of a capsized sailboat near Staniel Cay, Bahamas.