According to the survivor, who has not been identified, none of the passengers were wearing life jackets.
At least one person has died and some 38 remain missing after a boat capsized off the Florida coast on Sunday.
The authorities were alerted about the tragedy by the crew of a fishing boat that this Tuesday found a man sitting on the overturned hull of the sunken boat, about 72 kilometers from the town of Fort Pierce, on the east coast of the United States.
The survivor reported that they had sailed from Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday night and were affected by bad weather shortly after.
US officials said the sunken speedboat could have been used for “human smuggling.”
According to the survivor, who has not been identified, none of the passengers were wearing life jackets.
The United States Coast Guard conducts search operations by sea and air in a wide area of about 19,000 square kilometers.
Miami-area Coast Guard Commander Jo-Ann Burdian said Wednesday that a body had been found and was being flown to Fort Pierce.
He added that a search plane had spotted an area covered in debris that they were checking in hopes of finding other survivors.
a dangerous route
Burdian noted that the incident – believed to was caused by adverse weather conditions on Sunday– Occurred on a recurring human smuggling route between the Bahamas and the southern United States.
In that area, the weather on Sunday was marked by a cold front, high waves and strong winds.
Burdian warned that if there are other survivors they would be in a difficult situation, after spending so many days at sea without water or food.
The island of Bimini is located in the westernmost part of the Bahamas, just 129 kilometers from Miami.
Boating incidents are common off the Florida coast and, in many cases, involve migrants from Cuba and Haiti trying to reach the United States.
Last Friday, the Coast Guard reported the discovery of 88 Haitians in an overloaded boat found in western Bahamas.
“Navigating the Florida Straits, Windward Passage and Mona Passage in overloaded and unseaworthy vessels is extremely dangerous and can lead to loss of life,” the US Coast Guard said in a statement.
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