Officers from the Bermuda Police are to head due south to the Turks and Caicos Islands today to help solve a mystery surrounding the fatal capsizing of a Haitian boat carrying suspected illegal immigrants.

Turks and Caicos Governor John Kelly yesterday admitted there had been claims that the Turks and Caicos marine police hit the boat -- jammed with 100 people -- when they fired warning shots in a bid to get the vessel to heave to.

A total of six on board the vessel are known to have drowned in the incident and 24 are still missing.

Seventy survivors are currently in the Turks and Caicos awaiting interview by police.

The boat -- a sloop -- capsized on Monday, throwing around 100 people into the water.

It is understood that the vessel will be raised and the Bermuda officers will help examine it for evidence of bullet strikes.

A spokeswoman for the Bermuda Police Service last night confirmed five officers, headed by an Acting Detective Inspector, were set to head to the Turks and Caicos today.

Mr. Kelly, former Deputy Governor of Bermuda, now in the Island's sister UK Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, stressed there was no evidence that the police officers' shots hit the boat and that the six bodies recovered had not suffered bullet wounds.

But the Turks and Caicos government asked Bermuda to supply some officers, particularly ones with an investigative background and ones who could speak the Creole tongue of Haiti, to help interview survivors.

Mr. Kelly said: "We need to interview these survivors as quickly as possible and to get as much information as possible.

"Bermuda does have some Creole-speaking officers among its ranks. We do too, but because of the numbers involved, we want to deal with them as soon as possible.'' Mr. Kelly said that the firing of warning shots was a routine method of getting suspect boats to stop.

He said: "What the police try and do is get aboard a boat and try and see if it is carrying illegal immigrants.

"If it is, it's escorted into port and the illegals are flown back to Haiti.'' The Bermuda Police spokeswoman said some of the officers were specialists in scenes of crime and investigative work, while two spoke Creole and one was fluent in French.

She said: "Bermuda has been asked to provide its expertise on how the boat did capsize, as well as any other assistance it can render.'' The sloop was apparently on its way to Providenciales, the Turks and Caicos' main tourist island.

Premier Pamela Gordon last night expressed her sorrow at the loss of life stemming from the incident.

She added: "I'm proud that Bermuda has the expertise and that our officers are so well-trained, especially in scenes of crime work.

"We're more than capable -- they asked us for our assistance and we feel it's a very honourable thing to do because they're in need and we want to help resolve this as soon as possible.''