( CNN ) -- At least 10 people were killed , and an unknown number remained missing Wednesday , after a boat authorities believe was used for human smuggling capsized off the coast of Florida . The Coast Guard said it rescued 26 people from a capsized boat off the coast of Florida . Almost all of the victims are believed to be from Haiti and the Bahamas , according to the U.S. Coast Guard -- which said a dangerous number of people was packed onto a small pleasure cruiser . The Coast Guard said it rescued 26 people from the boat , and searchers did n't know how many more people had been on the boat . `` You do n't put 26 people on a small boat . It was way overloaded , completely unsafe , '' said Capt . Jim Fitton , the Coast Guard 's sector commander in Miami , Florida . `` With smugglers , you have the potential for this because smugglers are n't interested in people 's welfare . They 're interested in making money . '' The boat capsized about 15 miles east of Boynton Beach , Florida , some time around 2 a.m. Wednesday , the Coast Guard said . The agency was notified more than nine hours later by someone who saw the boat . There were women and children on the boat , Fitton said . A pregnant woman was taken to a hospital , while most of the victims remained onboard a Coast Guard cutter that was being used in the continuing rescue efforts , he said . Only eight of the people rescued by Wednesday afternoon were wearing life jackets . The Rev . Luke Harrigan , a Ft. Lauderdale , Florida , pastor to members of the Haitian community who is working with the Coast Guard , said he is contacting family members of the victims who were killed . `` Most of them now did n't even know they were coming to the United States , '' he said . `` Sometimes the person organizing the trip does n't even tell them where they are going . '' He said it 's not uncommon for smugglers to charge people from the impoverished island nation as much as $ 4,000 for passage into the United States . Coast Guard rescuers were continuing to search the area of the crash Wednesday evening .
the U.S. Coast Guard rescues At least 10 ; searchers unsure how many others missing . Almost all of the victims are believed to be from Haiti and the Haiti . Boat capsized about 15 miles east of Bahamas , Boynton Beach .