NATION : Soviet Navy Plucks Cubans Off Raft
A Soviet Navy vessel picked up three Cuban refugees adrift in an inner-tube raft off the Florida coast today and helped them seek political asylum in the United States.
The Soviets lowered a life raft into the water, picked up the refugees, then radioed the U.S. Coast Guard and asked them to pick up the Cubans, the Coast Guard said.
The refugees said they left from Santa Cruz, Cuba, last Saturday aboard a 12-foot boat that later capsized and sank. The three were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where they were in stable condition.
A Coast Guard spokesman said Soviet crewmen had questioned the Cubans and were aware the Cubans were fleeing the Communist island.
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