Two stowaways died in a shipping container aboard a freighter bound for Miami from the Dominican Republic, authorities said Monday.
Their bodies were discovered while the ship was about 100 miles off the coast, said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard. Two additional stowaways were taken to a hospital when the Panama-flagged Seaboard Trader moored at the Port of Miami on Monday night.
The four men were found inside a 40-foot-long shipping container, officials said. The freighter was carrying merchandise for Sara Lee Branded Apparel, said Port of Miami spokeswoman Andria Muniz.
The cause of death was being investigated. The four were all believed to be Dominican nationals, O'Neil said.
The condition of the hospitalized stowaways was not available.
The container had been packed in Haiti before being loaded onto the vessel in the Dominican Republic, O'Neil said.
