17 dead, 13 rescued after migrant boat capsizes

SABANA DE LA MAR, Dominican Republic (AP) — Rescuers scouring the white-capped waters off the Dominican Republic's coast have found 17 bodies and 13 survivors from a boat overloaded with migrants that...

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Deaths in makeshift boat sinking rise to 19, search suspended

Sabana de la Mar, Dominican Republic.- Authorities found another body that of a woman and now total seven recovered Sunday, from a makeshift boat headed to Puerto Rico which sank Saturday in Samaná Bay, where 18 found thus far after the 11 yesterday. Navy regional command Captain Héctor Ramon Méndez said a US Coast Guard cutter Capella, two speedboats and two rescue craft are in the zone, joined by six boats crewed by volunteer fishermen. Six women and 12 men are confirmed dead and the search for the rest of the undetermined number of missing has been suspension until tomorrow, the official said. Some of the 19 survivors are being taken to the Sabana de la Mar Navy Station as suspects while others were taken to the town’s hospital, with various injuries and first and second degree burns, he Navy said in a statement. Daniel Cepeda, one of the as yet undetermined number of survivors, said he paid 30,000 pesos (around 770 dollars) for...

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Boat capsizes off Libya coast: 15 dead

Tripoli - At least 15 Somali migrants were killed and 40 left missing after their boat capsized off the coast of Libya this week, the Somali ambassador to Tripoli said on Saturday. "Fifteen bodies, including one child and 12 women, were recovered off the coast of Misrata after their boat sank," ambassador Abdelghami Wais told AFP, adding the bodies were found on Wednesday on the shore of the western port city. The boat had been carrying 55 Somalis, Wais said, and the other passengers were still missing. "I've just returned from Misrata after the burials," the envoy said. The International Organisation of Migration, contacted by AFP, said it was unaware of the accident. Libya has for decades been a destination and a transit country to European shores for hundreds of thousands of African migrants seeking jobs and a better life. The ousted regime of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi used the issue to exert pressure on Europe and asked for...

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Magnitude 6.8 quake in Philippines kills 13, buries homes

MANILA, Philippines — Rescuers dig with picks and shovels trying to reach dozens of people trapped under houses collapsed by a strong earthquake Monday that shook a central Philippine island and set...

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At least five dead after Philippines earthquake

At least five people were killed today when a strong earthquake shook the central Philippines, destroying buildings and triggering landslides which buried dozens of houses, trapping residents. The 6.8-magnitude quake, in a narrow strait just off Negros Island, caused a landslide in Guihulngan, a city of about 180,000 people in Negros Oriental province. As many as 30 houses were buried and at least 29 people were missing, Mayor Ernesto Reyes said. Mr Reyes said four people died there, including a student at a college and two others in an elementary school. Another person died in the collapse of a town market. The quake, which hit at 11.49am local time (3.49am GMT), triggered another landslide in the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, also in Negros Oriental. An unknown number of people were trapped, said La Libertad police chief inspector Eric Arrol Besario. “We're now getting shovels and chainsaws to start a rescue because...

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