A migrant smuggling boat capsizes off Panama, leaving at least 5 people dead and 1 missing

PANAMA CITY (AP) — At least five migrants have died and the search continues for one more who is missing after a boat carrying more than two dozen migrants capsized off Panama’s Caribbean coast in an apparent attempt to avoid the treacherous Darien Gap land route. Panama’s Public Safety Ministry said in a statement Thursday the boat carrying 27 people – mostly Afghans — capsized off the Guna Yala Indigenous area Wednesday. The dead included two women and a child. The ministry said that at this time of year, bad weather is often a factor in such accidents, especially those involving clandestine migrant smuggling attempts.