Two missing Cubans now feared lost at sea

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Coat Guard, fire crews, police and border control ceased their joint operation Monday night after another day of searching for two missing Cuban men who were part of a group of ten migrants shipwrecked off the coast of Cayman Brac at the weekend. After a full day of search and recovery, the CIGC said that they were unable to recover the missing men.

The migrant vessel capsized sometime on Friday night-Saturday morning, and on Monday the operation had switched to a search and recovery effort based on the known in-water survivability rate, the CICG said.

The missing men, who have not been identified, are among several Cuban migrants who have lost their lives in and around Cayman waters over the years and part of an endless stream of migrants from the neighbouring island who risk their lives in makeshift vessels, usually trying to get to the United States.

In this instance, eight of the men aboard the vessel were saved and have been treated at Faith Hospital on Cayman Brac, as many were severely dehydrated by the time they were rescued. Local boaters played a critical role in helping the rescue efforts. Leanna Jackson and Evol Miller, who were on jet skis, rescued three of the men, who were found clinging to debris some 30 miles north of the Brac.