(Reuters) – At least three people died and 13 were missing after a boat traveling to the eastern Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis from neighboring Antigua capsized early Tuesday morning, a government news outlet said.
The boat, which capsized some 12 miles (19 km) south of St Kitts’ Conaree village, left Antigua some 65 miles (105 km) to the east with 32 passengers aboard, Antigua’s government news service ABS said in a statement.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Defense Force intensified search efforts, it added, after 16 people were pulled from the water and taken to St. Kitts, including two Antiguan and Barbudan nationals as well as 14 people from countries in Africa.
Colonel Telbert Benjamin of the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force told ABS that an aircraft has been deployed to help search for the missing.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
