January 18, 2000
Web posted at: 5:40 a.m. EST (1040 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- Rescue crews on Tuesday were combing the waters in an area between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic for possible survivors after a sailboat carrying dozens of Dominican migrants capsized.

Several people were reported to have drowned, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and Dominican Republic Navy, which conducted the search in the Mona Passage, a strait between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea.

Details of how the boat capsized were not immediately clear, but the Coast Guard said as many as 70 migrants may have been on the small boat.

The Coast Guard was notified of the accident around noon on Monday by local news media and promptly contacted the Dominican Navy to begin the search.

More than a dozen people swam to shore at Uvero Alto Beach, Dominican Republic after the boat took on water. A number of bodies were recovered at the beach by local authorities and a Coast Guard helicopter spotted others in the water.

The Dominican Navy has an 82-foot patrol boat searching the waters and the 110-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter Grand Isle is assisting.

Earlier, two Coast Guard helicopters, a C-130 Hercules airplane and an HU-25 Falcon jet conducted an aerial search before being called back due to darkness.

"Because of visibility, they called off the night (aerial) search," said Jibron Soto, a Coast Guard spokesman.