67 Haitians Rescued From Sinking Vessel

Coast Guard rescue units battled tricky waves and treacherous winds to rescue 67 Haitians who were crammed onto a rickety, 40-foot sailboat that was taking on water and sinking 20 miles off Florida’s southeast coast.

The Coast Guard said 28 of the Haitians were plucked off the boat’s deck by helicopter late Sunday in a 6 1/2-hour rescue operation that would have been dangerous even in calm seas. The other 39 were taken from the stricken vessel by rowboat and put aboard a Coast Guard cutter.

The 40-foot sailboat could hold only about 30 people safely, the Coast Guard said.

One woman broke a leg when she fell from the edge of a one-person rescue basket onto the deck of the sailboat during the helicopter rescue effort. She was ferried to Parkway Regional Medical Center in North Miami Beach.

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials planned to interview the rescued Haitians later today to determine whether they were trying to enter the United States illegally. If so, they will be returned to their homeland, officials said.

‘A Tricky Operation’

Three helicopters struggled in 46-m.p.h. winds 20 miles east of Fort Lauderdale to lift the Haitians one by one from the decks of the rickety sailboat as the vessel bobbed in 20-foot seas.

The Haitians had radioed an SOS about 5 p.m. Sunday, and the distress call was picked up by the 300-foot civilian ship Minerva. The Minerva relayed the distress call to the Coast Guard, then stood by to take the Haitians aboard as the Coast Guard helicopters arrived at the scene.

“It’s a tricky operation in daylight and calm seas with no wind,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jim Simpson said. He said the fact that none of the Haitians was familiar with the helicopter rescue routine complicated the effort.

The air rescue operation was abandoned at about 9 p.m. when two Coast Guard cutters arrived at the scene. All 67 Haitians were off the boat by 11:30 p.m., Simpson said.

The United States has a policy of denying entry to Haitians on the ground that they are economic refugees rather than political refugees. The U.S. policy has prompted thousands of Haitians to try to enter the country illegally, usually aboard crowded boats.