MADRID, Spain.- Two other bodies of Cuban rafters were found in the vicinity of Boca Chica, according to a statement issued this Wednesday by the US authorities.
The find was made by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with a Florida State Fish and Wildlife Discussion Commission.
Two more bodies found in waters near Key West: https://t.co/RmY672b0bj
— Florida Keys Sheriff (@mcsonews) October 5, 2022
According to releasethe first of these bodies was located around 2:00 pm last Monday and the second on Tuesday.
This brings the number of victims found to seven (6 women and one man), presumably part of the group of 27 Cubans who was shipwrecked last week in the Florida Keys during the passage of Hurricane Ian.
The disappearance of 23 migrants was reported by four Cubans who came in the group, of 27, and who managed to swim to shore after the boat sank.
Hours later, another five people were rescued, “with symptoms of exhaustion and dehydration.”
This Saturday, the Coast Guard reported which ended the search for the West Indians. Sharing the news, he indicated that 16 people remained missing.
#Final @USCG crews suspended the search for the 16 missing people pending new information. #HE
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) October 2, 2022
The figures so far are contradictory, since of the total of 27 migrants who were shipwrecked, with 9 rescued and seven deceased, eleven should remain missing.
This situation could be due to the fact that some of the migrants found were from another group or because there were initially more Cubans on the boat, and not 27.
This Wednesday, some 15 rafters were taken into the custody of the United States Border Patrol after making landfall in two rustic boats in the Dry Tortugas National Park.
According to reported on Twitter Agent Walter N. Slosar, the migrants were stranded on uninhabited islands and were rescued by the Coast Guard with no injuries reported.
The mass exodus that Cuba is experiencing has surpassed the Mariel crisis and the 1994 rafters crisis. They have intercepted more than 6,000 Cubans, a figure that exceeds the number of migrants from the island intercepted each fiscal year from 2017 to 2021.
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