By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force is still searching for a missing woman from an American vessel that ran aground near South Bimini on Thursday, which left one man dead and two others injured.

According to reports, the boat left Luna Beach en route to Honeymoon Harbour with two men and two women on board.

A short time later, the boat struck an object in the area of Turtle Rock and all four passengers were catapulted into the air, resulting in a man and woman falling overboard. The two were later reported as missing.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said officers at the Alice Town Police Station were notified of the incident shortly after midnight when they received a distress call from a boater in the area of Turtle Rock – two nautical miles off Bimini.

“Officers from the Marine Division stationed on the island were immediately dispatched, on the arrival of the coordinates given; the officers located a 32 feet everglades boat with two occupants aboard,” officials said in a statement on Friday.

Police said the two passengers – the captain and his companion — sustained injuries and were transported to the Bimini clinic for medical assistance and later airlifted to Florida. According to Florida news outlets, the patients are Josbel Fernandez and Violeta Khouri, who were at Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach on Friday evening.

A search later conducted by RBDF officers and the United States Coast Guard resulted in the the body of the missing man being found “with severe injuries.”

The Tribune spoke to a RBDF representative yesterday for an update on the status of the missing woman and was told a search was still underway for her.

The incident comes months after a Haitian vessel erupted into flames off Long Island, leaving six people missing.

The group along with three others were reportedly en route to Haiti from New Providence when — according to those on board — a passenger allegedly suffering from a non-COVID-19 related illness died.

The dead passenger was reportedly left on board the vessel, while two men were able to swim ashore at Millers, Long Island, who assisted police with their investigations.