A migrant boat capsizes off Florida

The US Coast Guard said Sunday it had recovered the body of one person after a boat carrying Cuban immigrants capsized off the coast of Little Torch Key, Florida.

He added that he has saved nine and continues to look for five more.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Nicole Groll said survivors told rescuers that 19 migrants in all were originally on the homemade boat and that four drowned soon after it capsized.

He added that rough seas and winds of up to 30 mph made the already perilous journey even more perilous.

“These boats are very primitive and they won’t survive this,” Groll said, adding that some of the migrants were wearing life jackets which helped ensure they could be rescued.

The sharp economic recession in Cuba has led to an exponential increase in emigration from the Caribbean island.

Some migrants attempt to reach Florida on rickety barges, though most travel to Central America or Mexico and reach the US border overland.