MIAMI — The Coast Guard is conducting a large-scale search-and-rescue mission of numerous people in the water about 15 miles northwest of Nassau, Bahamas.
Around 4:45 a.m. Sunday, a crewmember from the fishing vessel Lady In Red heard people screaming in the sea. After searching for about an hour, they notified the Bahamian Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA).
Around 7 a.m., BASRA personnel called and requested assistance from the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard launched an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew deployed to Great Inagua in support of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT). Around 10 a.m., the Jayhawk crew located five deceased people in the water and a good Samaritan recovered them.
Around 3:45 p.m., a C-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., located approximately 20 people in the water. It was unknown how many were alive or deceased. There was no sign of the vessel the people came from.
Numerous good Samaritans were assisting with recovering people from the water.
Also involved in the search were crews from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, a Jayhawk helicopter crew from the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) on Andros Island, Bahamas, an HU-25 Falcon jet crew and HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Miami, and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Miami Beach, Fla.
Rescue surface assets will continue searching for possible survivors.
