(Havana) At least five people, including a child, were killed on Saturday when a motor boat carrying migrants to Florida collided with a Cuban coast guard vessel, authorities in Cuba reported.
Posted yesterday at 9:37 p.m.
Eighteen people were rescued following the collision, which occurred in waters north of Bahia Honda, western Cuba, according to a statement from the Cuban Interior Ministry.
Three women, a man and an underage girl were killed, the ministry added without disclosing their identity.
The boat, which was carrying migrants, had arrived from the United States and had “violated Cuban territorial waters as part of a human smuggling operation”, the statement said.
The collision occurred as the Coast Guard sought to question the passengers of the boat, according to the statement read on Cuban television.
Cuba has blamed the United States, saying that a “hostile and cruel” American policy encourages illegal immigration by facilitating the stay of Cuban migrants who arrive on its shores.
The US Embassy in Havana offered US condolences via its Twitter account on Saturday.
“As we strengthen safe and legal pathways for migration, we warn against dangerous and sometimes deadly attempts at irregular migration,” the tweet read.
Lately, shortages of food, medicine and fuel, coupled with frequent power cuts, have caused the number of Cuban migrants to soar.
Between October 2021 and August 2022, nearly 200,000 Cubans were intercepted by US authorities, either crossing the land border between the United States and Mexico, or wishing to reach Florida by sea, according to data from authorities. US borders.
A year earlier, at the same time, the United States had apprehended 30,000 Cubans.
Cuba opposes deportations of Cuban nationals from the United States, and most migrants from the country are released after arriving illegally in the United States pending asylum hearings.