The United States Coast Guard recovered this Friday the body of one of the 27 Cubans who were shipwrecked last Wednesday in their attempt to reach Florida and confirmed that two other crew members of the sinister vessel were found alive. The deceased person, as reported in social networks, was located near the Ocean Edge Marina. “Teams are still looking for 17 missing people,” she detailed.
Without specifying when and where they were located, the head of the Border Patrol of the Miami sector, Walter Slosar, communicated this Thursday that “nine rafters” were already safe, in addition to the fact that the rescue work was being carried out.
Earlier, Slosar said that four of the occupants of the boat managed to get there by their own means and after receiving medical assistance were arrested. Meanwhile, three others were found that same day on the high seas during search operations, which are still underway this Friday.
The shipwreck occurred near Stock Island, neighboring Key West, the day Hurricane Ian, after hitting western Cuba, began its approach to the southwestern coast of Florida, where it made landfall with winds of 240 kilometers per hour.
The shipwreck occurred near Stock Island, neighboring Key West, the day Hurricane Ian, after hitting western Cuba, began its approach to the southwestern coast of Florida.
One of the Cubans rescued on Wednesday told local television channel WPLG that they were stranded “two days and two nights near the coast of Cuba and they did not rescue us.”
According to the rafter, left the Island last Friday and had been at sea for five days at the time of the shipwreck. She accepted the risk of the journey in a rustic boat. “It’s dangerous, but freedom is worth more than the danger we run,” she stressed.
The bleeding of Cubans is alarming. According to figures for the fiscal year that began in October 2021, the number of 6,182 rafters intercepted in their attempt to reach the US already exceeds the total of the previous five years. In 2017 they arrested 1,468; in 2018 there were 259; in 2019, 313; in 2020, 49; and in 2021, 838, according to official figures. This Friday, 120 Cubans were repatriated aboard the ship reliability.
On Tuesday, seven rafters arrived at Pompano Beach and were immediately arrested. He reminded those who risk reaching Florida by sea that after Ian’s passage, “the storm surge along with the king tide can create treacherous marine conditions.”
This Friday, the US Coast Guard indicated that the port authority of Key West opened the ports and after the first evaluations it was found that the passage of “Ian blew up the main buoys of the navigation channel more than 100 yards from the station” .
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