Coast Guard intercepts more than 50 migrants off Keys on two boats
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted two migrant boats off the Florida Keys on Friday, taking more than 50 people into custody.
In the morning, crews rescued 34 people clinging to a partially submerged boat off the Florida Keys on Friday morning. A boater came across the group and called Coast Guard Sector Key West, said Petty Officer Ryan Estrada, a spokesman for the service.
The boat was reported taking on water about 20 miles offshore of the Middle Keys city of Marathon, according to a lawenforcement source.
Estrada said a crew from Coast Guard Station Marathon saved the people in the water.
“All are accounted for,” Estrada said, adding that none of the people had any immediate medical needs. They were placed on a Coast Guard cutter offshore, Estrada said.
Later, the Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma intercepted another migrant boat about 35 miles south of Ramrod Key in the Lower Keys, Estrada said.
There were 17 people on that vessel, and they were taken aboard the cutter.
The Coast Guard did not immediately release the country of origin of the people on either boat.