Four Migrants De¶d, 20 M!ssing After Boat Caps!zes Off

Four Migrants Dead, 20 Missing After Boat Capsizes Off Dominican Republic

Migrants pay as much as $7,000 for a one-way trip to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with crisis-torn Haiti.

This handout picture released by the Dominican Republic Civil Defense shows Civil Defense members and a member of the Navy recovering the body of a shipwreck victim at Juanillo Beach near Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on July 11, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Dominican Republic Civil Defense / AFP)

Four migrants died and about 20 were missing after their boat capsized off the coast of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, authorities said Friday.

Seventeen migrants were rescued from the boat, which was carrying about 40 people and headed for Puerto Rico, a US territory, according to the Dominican civil defence authority.

The Caribbean nation’s navy said it had rescued 10 Dominicans and seven Haitians. A child was among the survivors.

So-called “yola” migrant boats, such as the one that ran into trouble, are constructed from wood or fiberglass and do not comply with safety regulations, according to authorities.

Migrants pay as much as $7,000 for a one-way trip to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with crisis-torn Haiti.

Illegal migration from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico has been a growing phenomenon in the last decade.