339 Refugees Found on Sinking Boat Will Be Returned to Haiti
The Coast Guard took 339 Haitians off a sinking shrimp boat and headed back with them to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday in what officials said may have been the biggest boatload of Haitian refugees ever seized by U.S. authorities.
“It’s the largest group we have on our records,” Lt. Cmdr. Jim Simpson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said.
The cutter Steadfast sighted the 65-foot converted shrimper Green Water on Monday night about 26 miles northwest of Great Inagua in the Bahamas. The refugees taken off the boat will be turned over to the Red Cross in Port-au-Prince.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
