MIAMI.- The Coast Guard announced that it is suspending the search for at least nine missing Cuban migrants, after the shipwreck was reported near Lake Worth Beach, off the coast of South Florida last weekend.
The search had begun after a good Samaritan who was sailing near the beaches of Palm Beach rescued a person at sea last Sunday, December 18 at approximately 3:00 p.m.
The Coast Guard reported Thursday night that after tracking some 2,485 miles without finding any traces, it was suspending the search for survivors pending “new information.”
“Our condolences go out to the loved ones of those lost at sea,” the Coast Guard said in a tweet.
WRECK DATA
The survivor of the shipwreck told authorities that he and nine other people had left Cuba on December 10 before the boat capsized Sunday morning.
For his part, Dannis González, brother of one of the disappeared rafters, referred to the tragic event and gave some details to Telemundo 51. “We made contact with Julio (the only survivor so far) who is in a West Palm Beach hospital and he said the boat sank and everyone started swimming to different places.”
“My brother came looking for life,” said González, who later confirmed to Telemundo 51 that he had learned that “his brother had died, two days before the boat sank.”
The incident occurs at a time when the US authorities have reported numerous interceptions of very precarious boats with Cuban migrants trying to reach the coast of Florida.
Just since Oct. 1, some 3,450 migrants have been intercepted by the Coast Guard, compared with 6,182 migrants who were intercepted during the entire fiscal year of 2022.
Last Sunday, the Coast Guard announced that 82 Cubans had been repatriated, while on Friday the same thing happened with 164 migrants.
The US authorities have reiterated how dangerous it is to navigate in precarious vessels to reach the US coast. “The sea is dangerous and conditions change rapidly. Too many migrant lives are lost trying to make the journey,” they point out in one of the messages shared by the Coast Guard on Twitter.
US residents seeking information on a family member possibly intercepted by the Coast Guard are asked to please contact their appropriate local government representative.