US Coast Guard calls off for search for 15, mostly Cubans

US Coast Guard calls off for search for 15, mostly Cubans
July 17, 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Sunday it has
called off a search for 15 people reported missing in an attempt to
reach the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Survivors who were rescued Monday near the British Virgin Islands told
officials that 13 Cubans, a Colombian and a Dominican were missing. They
said the boat set off from the Dutch island of St. Maarten on July 9 and
was headed for the U.S. territory, roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) to
the west, where Cubans have legal right to remain if they can reach land.

British and Dutch rescuers also took part in the search.

The head of the Coast Guard sector in Puerto Rico, Capt. Robert W.
Warren, announced the search was ending.

Officials did not say how the migrants had reached St. Maarten, which is
more than 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from the closest part of Cuba.
But in the past, Cuban migrants have sometimes flown to other Caribbean
islands, trying to use them as stepping stones to reach the U.S. Virgin
Islands rather than taking a sea journey directly from the island to
Florida, Mexico or Central America.

Source: US Coast Guard calls off for search for 15, mostly Cubans -
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