Fatal journey for Dominican migrants ends where it began

NAGUA, Dominican Republic -- After a harrowing journey at sea that lasted nearly two weeks and killed at least 55 people, a group of Dominican migrants who were seeking a better life in Puerto Rico drifted back to almost the same spot where their voyage began.

Relatives are continuing to bury the withered corpses of loved ones this week after 39 survivors were found here Tuesday, less than 30 miles from the village of El Limon, where their boat left July 29. Eight of the survivors died after being rescued and hospitalized.

Survivors described horrific scenes.

One woman was thrown overboard by men after she refused to give breast milk. Others jumped to their deaths after rations ran dry. Some considered turning to cannibalism.

"People just jumped off," said survivor Faustina Santana, 27. "They were going crazy."

The Dominican Republic, less than 100 miles from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, is going through its worst economic crisis in decades. More than 7,000 Dominicans have been caught trying to reach the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico since Oct. 1 -- more than double the number detained last year. Despite the risks, record numbers keep coming.

"He's never coming back," sobbed Victor Burgos as he buried his eldest son, Jose Luis Burgos, 20, one of the migrants who died. "He wanted to find something better."

Neither the father, nor his seven children, knew Burgos was making the trip.

The 30-foot boat crammed with 86 people had almost reached the Puerto Rican island of Desecheo two days after it left the Dominican Republic when its engine failed.

It was then that the captain abandoned ship, getting on a passing migrant boat and saying he would return with help. He never returned. The migrants paid $450 for the trip.

"We couldn't make it with what my husband earned so we had to try something," said Odales de Jesus, 29, a survivor who left her family in search of work.

By the third day, the boat was drifting and all of the water and food -- chocolate, peanuts and sardines -- had run out. The passengers shared one coconut they found floating in the sea.

Many people -- mostly older men -- began dying on the fifth day, the same day some men began demanding that women, even those who were not lactating, provide breast milk.

Vernanva de La Cruz, 19, was a recent mother who offered her breast milk. Another woman also provided milk but she died. It was unclear how or when she died.

"People started biting her everywhere to get at her nipples," de La Cruz said from her hospital bed. "She had bruises everywhere when she died."

Another woman who refused to provide milk was thrown overboard, Santana said, though some said the woman was pushed overboard after she was already dead.

She "refused to give breast milk and the men aboard grabbed her from behind and threw her overboard," Santana said. "They told me to give milk and I said I couldn't."

The survivors interviewed said there were no children aboard.

One survivor said some considered cannibalism but the group decided against it.

"Some wanted to eat the dead bodies, just their ears, but others of us said 'no,' and if we're going to die, we'll all die together," said Ramon Ballano, 40.

Worried relatives notified authorities when they did not hear from their loved ones in the days after they left. The journey to Puerto Rico can take a day in good weather.

"It's way too many lives lost needlessly," said Lt. Eric Willis, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, which sent cutters and planes to search for the migrants. "And they keep coming."

The Spanish-speaking nation of 8.8 million people has seen inflation top 30 percent and unemployment has reached 16 percent. Blackouts continue to plague the nation.

"What I earn doesn't give us enough," said Ballano. "I had no future here."

In addition to the 55 who died on the trip, at least 60 others have died in the Mona Passage, a shark-infested channel that separates the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico.

There were nine confirmed migrant deaths in the Mona Passage last year, although authorities say many others have likely died.

The migrants' boat was about 10-feet wide with no seats and no oars. After the engine failed, passengers put up a makeshift flag made from a white T-shirt, hoping that other passing boats would stop to help.