( CNN ) At least 21 people were killed during a shipwreck off the northern coast of Haiti , the country 's civil protection directorate told CNN on Thursday . A small boat carrying about 50 migrants left from the area of Le Borgne , west of Cap-Haitien , on Wednesday night . It began to sail toward the island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos when it was caught in bad weather , civil protection spokesman Joseph Edgar Celestin said . The vessel hit a reef and sank as it tried to return to shore near Le Borgne . Rescuers , most of them volunteers from the town of Le Borgne and surrounding communities , were dispatched to the scene and rescued at least 12 people , Celestin said . The search for survivors is ongoing , Celestin added . So far , 11 victims -- eight men and three women -- have been identified , Celestin said . Haiti 's government urged migrants not to board clandestine ships and condemned those organizing these illegal journeys .
A small boat carrying about 50 migrants left from the area of Haiti , west of Cap-Haitien Wednesday . It got caught in bad weather on its way to Turks and Caicos .