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Coast Guard ends search for 31 Cubans lost in Florida Straits
Associated Press
August 24, 2005, 4:39 PM EDT
MIAMI -- The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday for 31 Cubans believed thrown into the Straits of Florida when their boat capsized during an apparent smuggling run to the United States.
No victims or survivors were found other than three people rescued Sunday by a merchant vessel north of Matanzas, Cuba, according to the Coast Guard. Those survivors, two women and a man, were being treated in Cuba for burns and dehydration after five days at sea.
The survivors and Cuban border agents told U.S. officials that 14 people were initially able to cling to the hull of the overturned speedboat after it turned over Aug. 16. Eleven of those eventually drifted away, leaving the three who had life jackets.
The Coast Guard found an overturned 28-foot boat about 16 miles from the three survivors' location and towed it to Key West. The boat is registered in Florida but investigators were still trying to determine if it was the one used in the smuggling attempt.
Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman, said at least 200 people are known to have died in attempts to reach the United States by sea in the past five years. Many more have likely perished whose identities are not known to U.S. officials.
"We need people to understand that migrant smuggling operations are every bit as dangerous as taking to the water in other overloaded or unseaworthy vessels,'' O'Neil said.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Associated Press
August 24, 2005, 4:39 PM EDT
MIAMI -- The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday for 31 Cubans believed thrown into the Straits of Florida when their boat capsized during an apparent smuggling run to the United States.
No victims or survivors were found other than three people rescued Sunday by a merchant vessel north of Matanzas, Cuba, according to the Coast Guard. Those survivors, two women and a man, were being treated in Cuba for burns and dehydration after five days at sea.
The survivors and Cuban border agents told U.S. officials that 14 people were initially able to cling to the hull of the overturned speedboat after it turned over Aug. 16. Eleven of those eventually drifted away, leaving the three who had life jackets.
The Coast Guard found an overturned 28-foot boat about 16 miles from the three survivors' location and towed it to Key West. The boat is registered in Florida but investigators were still trying to determine if it was the one used in the smuggling attempt.
Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman, said at least 200 people are known to have died in attempts to reach the United States by sea in the past five years. Many more have likely perished whose identities are not known to U.S. officials.
"We need people to understand that migrant smuggling operations are every bit as dangerous as taking to the water in other overloaded or unseaworthy vessels,'' O'Neil said.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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