Hundreds Missing, Feared Dead As Overloaded Ferry Sinks Off Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - An overloaded ferryboat sank during a rainstorm off southern Haiti, and hundreds of passengers were missing and feared dead. U.S. Coast Guard cutters and airplanes were dispatched today to help in the rescue effort.

The Coast Guard said port authorities reported 800 tickets were sold for the 150-foot, triple-deck ferry. But the captain said as many as 1,500 people were packed onto the Neptune for an overnight crossing from the southern port of Jeremie to the capital when it went down early yesterday.

The Coast Guard said bodies had washed up on the beaches of Miragoane and Petit Goave, 60 miles west of Port-au-Prince. By early this afternoon, 141 people were rescued, according to military sources and fisherman.

Because of poor communications, it took more than a day for reports of the sinking to emerge.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Larry Mizell said there was "no correlation between this and the boat people," referring to the tens of thousands of Haitians who have fled their homeland by sea.

Haiti's military approved flights by U.S. aircraft over the disaster scene and allowed two Coast Guard cutters in the region to help in the rescue effort, said Mizell, the Coast Guard liaison in Port-au-Prince.

"We made the offer, and they jumped on it," Mizell said. U.S. vessels routinely patrol international waters off Haiti to intercept boat people, and have increased their presence in recent weeks.

The ferry captain, Benjamin Sinclair, said as many as 1,500 people were aboard, but military authorities in Jeremie earlier estimated 2,000 were on the ship.

There were heavy rains, and Sinclair said passengers panicked, causing the ferry to capsize.

Mizell said one of the survivors indicated there was a rain squall at the time of the accident and that "many of the people went to one side of the vessel, which may have contributed to the problem they had."

Military authorities in Jeremie said one of the upper decks had collapsed.

Sinclair told the private Radio Metropole he and about 60 passengers managed to swim ashore in a group. Authorities said dozens of other survivors had been picked up along the coast.