Rescuers searched by sea and air today for nearly 70 Haitians after an overloaded sailboat ran aground and capsized in reef-studded waters off the Turks and Caicos Islands, killing at least 15 migrants fleeing the poverty of their homeland.

A massively overloaded yacht carrying Haitian illegal immigrants sank off the Turks and Caicos Islands and as many as 85 people are missing, the US Coast Guard said today.