Three Killed in Boat Capsizing Near Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean

The government news service (ABS) in Antigua reported that at least three people have died and 13 others are missing after a boat capsized while heading to Saint Kitts and Nevis from neighboring Antigua early Tuesday morning. The statement indicated that the boat overturned approximately 19 kilometers south of the village of Conaree in Saint Kitts, having departed from Antigua, which is located about 105 kilometers to the east, with 32 passengers on board. It added that the defense forces in Saint Kitts and Nevis have intensified search efforts after 16 people were recovered from the water and transported to Saint Kitts, including two citizens from Antigua and Barbuda along with 14 others from African countries. Colonel Tilbert Benjamin from the Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force told ABS that "a plane has been dispatched to assist in the search for the missing." Antigua and Barbuda is known as the "Land of 365 Beaches," has a population of 97,929, and consists of two main islands and several smaller ones. Antigua and Barbuda is one of seven independent nations operating under the oversight of the multi-country office in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.