SAN JOS?, Feb 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A boat carrying 17 migrants heading for the United States sank off Nicaragua, leaving at least five people dead, including two children, authorities in the Central American nation said Wednesday.

The vessel had left the Colombian island of San Andres the previous day with migrants from India, Iran, Egypt and Vietnam on board, according to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's wife Rosario Murillo, who holds the post of co-president.

The boat capsized near the Corn Islands off Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, she told local media by telephone.

Two Egyptian children were among the dead, the army said in a statement.

Eight migrants were rescued while three minors and an adult were missing, it said.

The sea route between San Andres and Nicaragua is used by some US-bound migrants as an alternative to the dangerous overland crossing from South to Central America through the Darien jungle.