Over 180 migrants were rescued from an overcrowded boat that capsized off the Florida Keys.
Here’s what we know.
How many people were on the boat?
CNN reported that over 180 people were rescued from a boat in the Florida Keys on Monday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Border Patrol.
The Sun Sentinel reported that there were a total of 198 Haitian migrants aboard the boat that was intercepted.
In a tweet from U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar, he said that there were “18 additional Haitian migrants who were trapped in dangerous ocean currents while attempting to swim to shore” who were also rescued.
How were the people discovered?
A person reported the incident off of Rodriguez Key around 5 a.m., according to a tweet sent out by the Coast Guard’s 7th District.
CBS News reported that “the Coast Guard and others responded, battling challenging weather and seas to safely remove what they initially said were 22 people from the sailboat.”
As more information came out about the rescue, the Coast Guard ended up saving more than 100 people before the boat hit a sandbar south of Whale Harbor.
The Coast Guard found many people alive in the water at the sandbar. By Tuesday, the Coast Guard had clarified that it rescued over 180 people in total from the capsized boat.
More Cost Guard rescues over the weekend
Over the weekend there was another Coast Guard rescue near Florida.
In another migration attempt, a homemade sailboat capsized on Saturday, leaving nine people stranded until help came, according to The Associated Press. The U.S. Coast Guard said that it believed at least four people may have drowned and another five people are still missing from the incident.
ABC News reported that “some of those rescued were wearing life jackets which likely saved their lives in the waves that hit as high as 8 feet amid 30 mph (48 kph) winds, the Coast Guard said in a tweet.”