Only three people were known to have survived when a small boat packed with up to 40 Haitians heading for Florida capsized in shark-infested waters a few miles from the Bahamas.
The dead include a woman and four children, said Rhonda Waton of Bahamas Air-Sea Rescue."It's very gruesome," she said. "Unfortunately, there are sharks very active in the area."
The 23-foot boat capsized early Sunday and was found about three miles off Great Abaco Island, where the Haitians lived. Florida is about 200 miles from the island.
A Coast Guard helicopter and three boats searched into the night for more survivors, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Alex Worden in Miami.
The search resumed at first light Monday with no immediate results.
Reports that as many as six people survived could not immediately be confirmed. Three people safely reached of a beach off a cay, northeast of the island.
Most aboard were children, said Robinson Weatherford, pastor of the Creole Gospel Chapel on the island.
A few adults were aboard for the trip to Florida, where most had relatives, he said.
Weatherford said he believes the boat capsized because it was overloaded.
The group bought the boat for the trip. It carried no life jackets and little food.
"They lived in the Bahamas for years working in the citrus groves or cucumber fields, wherever they could find a job," Weatherford said.
"But since it was getting difficult to get citizenship papers, they decided to leave."