Mexican fishermen rescued this Tuesday six Cuban rafters near the port of San Felipe, Yucatan, who had been missing at sea for more than 20 days and saw two of his fellow travelers die.
The eight rafters left Camagüey, Cuba, March 15, intending to reach South Florida. When they had been sailing for almost three weeks, strong waves capsized the boat and left them adrift.
Two of them drowned and the other six held out for a few hours. until they were found by some fishermen cruising around in their boats, the brother of one of the survivors confirmed to CiberCuba.
The San Felipe City Police Department took notice of the find and received the raftsmen – five men and one woman – at the pier.
The police report identifies the surviving Cuban rafters as Francisco García Hernández, 20 years old; Michael Gonzalez Lopez, 22; Orlando Perez Salas, 34; Pedro Enrique Torne Martinez, 33; Lazaro Yoandry Palomino Malpica, 27, and Dayana Suarez Plana, 20; all from Camaguey.
The survivors could only identify their two deceased companions as García and Argáez.
The rescued raftsmen showed signs of dehydration and malnutrition and were taken to a health center and handed over to the relevant immigration authorities.
in early April, Five Cuban raftsmen were rescued at sea through an international cruise that found her adrift in a precarious boat between the Florida Peninsula, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico and transferred to the island of Cozumel in Mexico.
Another group of nine Cuban raftsmen were rescued in the port of El Cuyo on April 2ndin Yucatan after spending 16 days at sea.
Also earlier this month, CiberCuba reported this Disappearance of three young Cuban rafters who left Caimito, province of Artemisa, on March 3rd. The data and description of the boat bear similarities to the case of three Cuban raftsmen rescued by the United States Coast Guard on an island near Anguilla Cay in mid-March and turned over to Bahamian authorities.
Another 10 Cuban rafters who left Playa Baracoa in Artemisa province on April 4 are missing, including a Cuban family. –a couple with their 2 year old son–; a 16 year old girl and another under 4 years old.
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