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| The story behind a picture of a lone survivor at sea near the US state of Florida (latest news 20220 |
About 20 people clung to the wreckage for hours. But only one survived.
The image of a lone survivor of a migrant boat capsizing in the middle of the sea near the US state of Florida has gone viral around the world.
According to BBC Mando, the 22-year-old man is from Colombia and his name is Juan Esteben Montoya.
Montoya was rescued after floating for several hours on Tuesday. He said he had left the Bahamas with 39 people on Sunday morning. He was traveling with his younger sister Maria Camilla who got lost in the sinking boat.
The U.S. Coast Guard pulled five bodies from the sea on Thursday evening before abandoning a search for those missing in the crash.
Authorities were alerted on
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| The story behind a picture of a lone survivor at sea near the US state of Florida (latest news 20220 |
Tuesday when a merchant ship spotted a man clinging to the deck of a boat 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Fort Pierce, Florida.
U.S. officials say the boat may have been used for "human trafficking."
Montoya belongs to the municipality of Guacari in the Kaka Valley of Colombia. He said none of the 40 passengers were wearing life jackets.
Tugboat captain Senate Intruder saw Montoya in a state of extreme distress, after which he was rescued on Tuesday.
A Florida-based senate shipping company's operations manager told BBC Mando's Atahulpa Amris: "At 8:05 we got them on board and immediately gave them first aid. We gave them water and some soft food. He was very weak and very anxious. ""They told us there were 40 people on board, including him," he said. After leaving Bimani, they traveled four hours between Saturday and Sunday night. Then the boat capsized due to bad weather.
The weather was very cold on Sunday. According to the story told by Montoya to the crew, about 20 of them clung to the wreckage for hours.
Capt. Joe Ann Burden, commander of the Miami sector of the Coast Guard, told a news conference that the incident was a "normal" route for human trafficking from the Bahamas to South America.
Bimani Island is the westernmost district of the Bahamas, just 50 miles from the U.S. state of Miami.
Immigrant boats capsize in waters near Florida. Most of them are immigrants trying to reach the United States from Cuba and Haiti.
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| The story behind a picture of a lone survivor at sea near the US state of Florida (latest news 20220 |
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"Abu, we are about to walk in five minutes. Everyone is sitting in the boat."
On Tuesday, when authorities learned that the boat had capsized, Coast Guard intercepted 191 Haitians in waters near the Bahamas. In another incident a few days ago, 88 Haitians met with a boat in the same area.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that "passing unsafe boats through the Florida, Windward and Mona Straits is extremely dangerous and could result in casualties."
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