MIAMI, United States. — The United States Coast Guard (USCG) on Wednesday suspended the search for a Cuban rafter who disappeared earlier this week.
“The Key West Sector Coast Guard suspends search for missing person,” he said in Twitter that entity, the smallest branch of the six that make up the US Armed Forces.
In statements collected by the USCG itself, Captain Jason Ingram, commander of the Key West Sector, insisted on the dangers of launching into the sea in unseaworthy vessels.
“Going to sea without safety equipment and in unsafe vessels can result in loss of life. This unidentified person is presumed lost at sea. Our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones,” the officer said.
#breaking @USCG Sec Key West suspends search for missing person, Wed.
Taking to the sea w/o safety equipment & in unsafe vessels can result in loss of life. This unidentified person is presumed lost at sea. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ their loved ones. – Capt. ingram #HE
—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) March 23, 2023
The disappeared Cuban was part of a expedition of more than twenty people who were rescued by the Coast Guard last Monday about six miles south of Key West.
After the rescue operation, Captain Ingram, in charge of the search, indicated that “embarking in dangerous weather conditions and unseaworthy vessels greatly increases the risk of loss of life.”
In this sense, the official asked potential illegal immigrants not to jump into the sea and to use safe and legal means to emigrate to the United States.
Relatives of the rafters assured from Cuba that the group left on Sunday, March 19, from the town of Jaimanitas, in the Playa municipality (Havana) and begged for information about the state of their loved ones, because until yesterday the Coast Guard had not identified the Cubans who were rescued.
Since October 1, 2022, the beginning of fiscal year 2023, almost 6,000 Cuban rafters have been intercepted trying to reach US territory illegally.
