A migrant boat washed ashore in front of Surfside building. Cubans were repatriated
An empty migrant boat that washed ashore on the beach in Surfside Tuesday morning in front of the wreckage of the collapsed Champlain Towers South was carrying 11 Cuban migrants who were intercepted and repatriated the day before, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The boat, made of blue corrugated metal, was intercepted near Carysfort Reef just off Key Largo at 12:20 p.m. on Monday. The migrants were reported to be in good health, the Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday. They were taken aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, given food and water and taken back to Cuba, according to the statement.
“The Florida Straits, especially during hurricane season, makes the seas even more unpredictable than usual,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mario Gil, Coast Guard liaison officer. “These voyages can cost you your life.”
The boat likely drifted north after migrants were detained, and washed ashore in Surfside the next day.
The vessel has some writing on its side that started with “Los 1,000,” according to Miami Herald photos. The Coast Guard wrote “OK CG” in red after it was intercepted. Gasoline canisters could be seen inside, as well as a blue plastic tarp and what appears to be a deflated inner tube.
A bulldozer pulled the boat south along the water’s edge to an undisclosed location while about 25 rescue workers were digging along an inclined trench on the beach-facing area of the pile of debris.
Since Oct, 1, 2020, the start of the fiscal year, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 512 Cubans, the statement said. In the fiscal year 2020 which started in October 2019, just 49 Cuban migrants were stopped while attempting the perilous journey across the Florida Straits. In 2019 there were 313 interceptions, and 259 in 2018, according to the Coast Guard.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 3:33 PM.
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