NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) -- The moonlight illuminated her fellow passengers, scattered through the chilly ocean 15 miles from the nearest land. Some of them screamed for help. Others bobbed silently, face-down in the water.

As the voices grew quiet one by one, the student clung to the only life preserver she could find: the lifeless body of a Haitian who had shared her American dream.

Nine hours later, day broke and rescuers finally arrived. Two dozen people were dead. Three were alive, including Fileresaint.

She was still clinging to the corpse.

This group of migrants took a common route, boarding a smuggler's boat to the Bahamas, two survivors said late Wednesday from hospital beds. Bahamian police grabbed several of the migrants as they reached land, and those who escaped made it to a safehouse, where they spent two weeks waiting to move on.

Fileresaint said she counted 27 people aboard the speedboat. Survivor Johnny Boucher, 26, said they were packed in shoulder-to-shoulder.