MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – A rustic boat with 15 migrants on board capsized in the lower Florida Keys on Friday, according to the US Coast Guard. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation officers found two dead.
The Coast Guard was searching for five overnight after rescuing eight Cuban migrants about 14 kilometers south of Sugarloaf Key. Six of those rescued required medical attention.
The bodies of the two dead were at the Monroe County Coroner’s Office, according to the FWC and Coast Guard.
“Our search continues for others who may have survived this tragic incident,” Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson said in a statement Friday night.
The Coast Guard continued to search for five people Friday night after a rustic boat with 15 migrants on board capsized in the lower Florida Keys.
McPherson, commander of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, also said the tragedy is an example of the many risks Cuban migrants face in overloaded makeshift boats as they cross the Florida Straits.
The Coast Guard received reports of overturned boats and people in the water around 10am. US Customs and Border Protection air and sea operations also responded.
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The deaths come as federal authorities grapple with a surge in Cuban migrants. The US Border Patrol reported that more than 130 migrants had been detained along the island chain in the past two days.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who lost their lives in the Lower Keys,” McPherson said.
In the midst of an economic crisis in Cuba, US federal agencies have faced a sharp increase in migrants at sea and on the US-Mexico border.
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Report of August 4
Thirty-one migrants arrived Thursday morning in three separate landings in the Florida Keys, sources told Local 10 News.
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