Four survivors charged

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said the four survivors of a deadly shipwreck near the Turks and Caicos Islands will be charged with involuntary manslaughter.



Prosecutors in the northeastern city of San Francisco de Macoris say the defendants organised the voyage that ended in the deaths of 28 people.



The four people now facing charges survived 15 days adrift on board a fragile wooden craft.



After their rescue, they reportedly told authorities that they had to eat the flesh of one of their dead companions to stay alive.



A boat captain has also been charged in the United States with smuggling illegal immigrants after his vessel ran aground near Miami on October 31, killing six people.



The passengers from Brazil and the Dominican Republic say they paid the captain, Crecencio Hernandez, between $4,000 and $15,000 to be smuggled into the US.



Hernandez, who is 62 years old, was charged with alien smuggling and could face 10 years in prison.