“Rescue workers have recovered 17 bodies from the water,” Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement posted on Twitter. Among the dead are 15 women, a man and a child.
Another 25 people have been rescued. At least one person is still missing.
According to preliminary information, a boat should have left New Providence, the Bahamas’ most populous island, early Sunday morning with about 60 people on board. The trip’s final destination is believed to have been Florida. The ship is said to have then capsized about eleven kilometers outside the island’s coastal strip.
The Bahamas is a known haven for people smugglers who use the island nation as a starting point to bring people to the United States, a journey that is often fraught with danger.