Anywhere from ten to 30 Haitian migrants are feared drowned and some 110 were rescued from the waters off the Bahamas, clinging to the hull of a capsized freighter.  It is believed they were heading to the United States.

US Coast Guard rescuers in planes and helicopters dropped ten quick-inflating life rafts into the water to help keep the other survivors afloat until a Royal Bahamas Defense Force patrol boat could take them aboard, according to US Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Mark Barney in Miami.

“They drop it right next to them and they can swim over. Once they're out of the water they have a better chance of surviving,” Barney said.  “There’s just so many people in the water.”

The US said 30 people might have died, Bahamian officials put the death toll at ten.  Their boat was only 12 meters in length, for well more than 130 people.

Despite the tragedy, the number of undocumented immigrants taking the risky journey in often unseaworthy boats is down.  The Coast Guard says it has stopped 508 Haitians from trying to reach the US, the lowest number in 15 years.