3 dead, 16 missing after boat capsizes in eastern Caribbean

It was not immediately clear where the people who died were from.The boat sank about 40 miles 60 kilometers northwest of Antigua. It was not immediately clear where it was headed, Col. Telbert Benjamin, chief of defence for Antigua and Barbudas Defense Force, told the governments media outlet.The vessel went down in relatively deep water, and so recovery ... might be a bit of a challenge, Benjamin said.

Three people died and 13 are missing after a boat capsized near the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts early on Tuesday, authorities said.

The boat was carrying 32 passengers, 16 of whom were rescued, according to the government's Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Services.

Officials in Antigua are leading the search and said the majority of those rescued are from unidentified countries in Africa. It was not immediately clear where the people who died were from.

The boat sank about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Antigua. It was not immediately clear where it was headed, Col. Telbert Benjamin, chief of defence for Antigua and Barbuda's Defense Force, told the government's media outlet.

“The vessel went down in relatively deep water, and so recovery ... might be a bit of a challenge,” Benjamin said.