Sabana de la Mar, Dominican Republic.- Five more bodies were found near noon Wednesday, and total add eight recovered in Samaná Bay today, in the wake of the makeshift boat that sank Saturday with 60 boatpeople headed to Puerto Rico.
The bodies were found in islets of Los Cayos, near Cayo Levantado, according to East Naval region commander Héctor Ramon Méndez, who heads the search and rescue operations. He said rescuers expect to find more bodies today, since in his view enough time has passed for the cadavers to float to the surface.
The bodies have yet to be identifying and will be taken to the morgue at Sabana de la Mar hospital, Méndez said, adding that they’ll continue the search for other people who’re still missing.
With the bodies found Thursday the number of people who drowned in the mishap the boat which set sail from the nearby town of Nagua rises to 34, most of whom hailed from the city San Francisco de Macoris.

Desperation to migrate to Puerto Rico, where menial jobs are more available, at a US dollar rate, motivates and encourages this dangerous journey.
The failure of our authorities to patrol the oceans, and the government to provide the tools and opportunities for these desperate Dominicans, to stay and prosper in their own country is evident.
The rich get richer, the poor more desperate, and the politicians and military get fatter reaping on our poorest and neediest Dominicans, who have been displaced by the massive Haitian cheap labor, that are trespassing in our Quisqueya.
Things are not all that good in PR BTW. Unemployment is massive with high criminality.
Stronger patrol of the eastern shores is necessary. With stiff mandatory 20 year minimum prison terms for violators of any kind! You do the deed, you do the time; doesn't matter if it's one person or 100 you attempt to take to shore.
You don't get 10 years even for willful, premeditated murder in the Dominican Republic. You negotiate a deal with the victim's family, then you walk free.