BRASMLIA, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – At least 19 Brazilian migrants are
feared drowned off the Bahamas as they tried to cross illegally to the United States, officials in Brasilia said Monday.
The group went missing “during a purported crossing by sea from the
Bahamas to the United States,” a foreign ministry statement said.
The migrants’ families have not heard from them since November 6, the
foreign ministry said.
“There are about 20 Brazilians (who have gone missing). So far, there
is no information about their whereabouts, nor about the vessel that supposedly was going to take them to the United States,” the foreign ministry added.
Brazilian media reports said there were also dozens of other migrants
aboard the boat, which officials suspect went down while attempting the roughly 50-mile (80-kilometer) crossing between the Bahamas and the Florida coast.