The Coast Guard wrote on Twitter that it received a message from “a good Samaritan” who had picked up a drowning man. In a photo published by the Coast Guard, the drowning man sits atop an upside-down but still floating boat.
He said he and 39 others left on Saturday from Bimini, an island group that belongs to the Bahamas. About 60 kilometers east of Fort Pierce, not far from Miami, the boat capsized in heavy weather. According to the survivor, no one was wearing a life jacket.
The Bahamas is not far from the American coast and is a popular departure point for people smugglers. Bimini is the westernmost part of the island state.