The United States Coast Guard intercepted this week in the middle of the night during a routine patrol, about 40 miles southwest of Great Inagua, Bahamas (about 540 miles southeast of Florida), a sailboat overloaded carrying 191 illegal Haitians.
"These extremely overloaded vessels operate without proper safety equipment and are not built for dangerous voyages," said Lt. David Steele, Coast Guard Liaison Officer for the US Embassy in Haiti.
The Coast Guard provided life jackets to all Haitians before transferring them to safety aboard two Coast Guard vessels where they received food, water and basic medical care before being conducted to the Bahamas and handed over to the immigration services who will take care of their repatriation to Haiti, declared Jose Hernandez Spokesperson for the Coast Guard.
