Coast Guard rescues 176 Haitians from sailboat off Florida

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says it pulled 176 Haitians from an overloaded wooden sailing vessel as it approached the Florida Keys. The rescue effort unfolded on Monday after a Customs and Border Protection crew spotted the 60-foot sailboat near the Bahamas with a crowd on board. The Cutter Paul Clark and the Coast Guard station in Islamorada worked with federal, state and local law enforcement officers to take the people into custody. Ten had to be treated at a hospital for dehydration. Coast Guard crews have already rescued 557 Haitians three months into the current fiscal year, a pace that’s up sharply from the year before.