The US Coast Guard suspended its search for 10 Cuban migrants whose boat capsized south of Key West last week.
Authorities managed to rescue two women and six men on Thursday, and pulled two bodies out of the water.
“The Coast Guard, Department of Defense agencies and local agencies have continuously searched the past three days to locate the 10 missing persons,” Capt. Adam Chamie, Coast Guard commander in the Key West sector, said in a statement. .
“The decision to suspend a search is always difficult and is made only after considering all the circumstances. We extend our sincere condolences to the families affected by this tragedy, ”he added.
The Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force participated in the search. Survivors told authorities that they left Cuba on Sunday and that the boat sank on Wednesday night.
A Coast Guard patrol located the survivors in the water Thursday.
The Coast Guard has intercepted 308 Cubans on the high seas since October, 200 of them in the past two months. Only 49 Cubans were intercepted between October 2019 and September 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced restrictions to be imposed.
–
