Search For Missing People Underway At Florida Coast

The United States Coast Guard called off one search while other search operations are still continued. One search operation to find 6 missing people was called off, while another search for 10 people is still underway. The two search operations are separate and independent.

The agency released a statement that the search for the 6 people reported missing after a boat capsizing incident on February 10 is called off on Monday. 

Search For Missing People Underway At Florida Coast

Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian said that decisions involving the suspension of any search and rescue cases are not taken very lightly. The agency deeply sympathies with the friends and families of those involved in the fateful accident. 

The coast guard reported that they tried their best to search and rescue the missing. They utilized their best resources and had invested a lot of time in the search and rescue mission. 

According to the agency, six ships and one HC-130 Hercules aeroplane were deployed in the search operation. The spanned an area of about 10,694 miles. It was reported that the search operation was carried on for about 140 hours. 

According to the coast guard at the seventh district’s southeast headquarter, the reportedly missing people started the search operation when they were informed about the incident by one of the survivors.

Some Samaritan rescued one person on Friday, two days after the accident. He was rescued about 23 miles off from the coast of Fort Pierce on the Florida east coast. 

The man rescued on Friday was a Jamaican national. He was rescued by the coast guard and sent to a hospital.

According to the survivor, there were 6 other people on the boat with him. All 7 has started from the coast of Bimini, Bahamas. The boat capsized on Wednesday. 

The other search operation involving the 10 missing persons is still on. It is about a 6 feet makeshift vessel. The vessel is reported missing from the coast of Key West.

According to the coast guard, the vessel started from Havana, Cuba. When it departed from Havana on Friday, 10 people were reported on board the makeshift vessel.

It is reported that this vessel was spotted on Sunday at the Key West coast by some individual. The seventh district tweeted about this incident.

The location is about 8 miles south of Long Key. The coast guard stated that the search for the 10-missing people on board the vessel is still going on. 

The coast guard agency is not sure about the reasons that why the vessel is missing in the first place. According to the coast guard, many boats and search planes had been deployed to find the missing vessel and rescue the people on board. 

The search operation for both the incidents came just 3 days after the search and rescue operation of 3 Cuban nationals. They were located on a deserted island in Bahama.

It was reported that they survived for about 33 days at the island living off coconuts. According to the survivors, their boat capsized into troubled water, and that they had to swim to the deserted island. The survivors were sent to Cuba.

According to the coast guards, they are facing an increased number of such rescue operations these days. Most are from Cuba.

They said that these search operations basically involve Cuban nationals set on such treacherous journeys to seek asylum in the United States. 

According to the coast guards, they have rescued around 58 Cuban migrants since October 1, last year. All were attempting to reach the United States across the Florida strait. They have rescued many, and the migrants were sent back to their country.