Coast Guard rescues 176 Haitians from sailing boat off Florida

KEY LARGO, Fla. – The US Coast Guard pulled 176 Haitians from an overloaded, unqualified wooden sailing vessel as it approached. Florida key, officials said.

Rescue crews were deployed Monday after a Customs and Border Protection and Marine Force crew spotted the 60-foot-long vessel about 40 kilometers northeast of Anguilla Cay, Bahamas, police said. sea ​​said in a press release.

Officials said the crew of Cutter Paul Clark provided personal flotation devices to those on board, which did not have basic life-saving equipment or navigation lights. A crew member from the Coast Guard station in Islamorada then worked with federal, state and local law enforcement officials to put the men in jail. Ten people were taken to the hospital with symptoms of dehydration.

“It is extremely dangerous to travel through the Florida Straits with an unreliable vessel, especially off the Florida Keys, where the water is more dangerous with shoals and reefs,” said Sheriff James Kinney. . “Thanks to the quick coordination between various agencies, no one was killed in this skirmish.”

The Coast Guard regularly returns people who are interfered at sea to their country of origin. Coast Guard crews have saved 557 Haitians in the three months from the current financial year. This is a sharp increase from last year, when 1,527 Haitians were rescued at the end of the year. The agency said 418 Haitian migrants were rescued in 2020, 932 in 2019, 609 in 2018 and 419 in 2017.