San Juan, Puerto Rico – The U.S. Coast Guard has calledoff a four-day search for 14 Dominican migrants bound for Puerto Rico whoreportedly went missing at sea, AP reports.
Spokesman Ricardo Castrodad on Tuesday said concernedrelatives called authorities after the boat left the Dominican Republic on Dec.1 but failed to arrive at Puerto Rico’s southwest, its intended destination.
He said crews spent more than 76 hours searching for thegroup, covering more than 39,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers)between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Dozens of Dominican boatpeople die of the hundreds that tryto cross the treacherous, 100-mile (160-kilometer) long Mona Passage,attempting to reach U.S. territory every year.