US Coast Guard suspends search for 5 missing from capsized boat off Florida in ‘failed smuggling venture’
By Lex Harvey and Chris Boyette, CNN
(CNN) — The US Coast Guard has suspended the search for five people missing from what it called “a suspected failed smuggling venture,” after a boat carrying nine people capsized off the southeast coast of Florida early Saturday.
“The decision to suspend a search is always difficult and never taken lightly,” Chief Warrant Officer Edgardo Insignares, a Coast Guard Sector Miami search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a news release.
Four people from the vessel were rescued and taken by helicopter to Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital in Stuart, Florida, including one with serious injuries, Martin County Fire Rescue said.
One of the survivors said the vessel departed Bimini with nine people Friday and capsized Saturday, the Coast Guard said. Bimini is a small island chain in the Bahamas, about 50 miles east of Miami.
Martin County Fire Rescue previously said one person was found dead, but the US Coast Guard later clarified no bodies were found.
The Coast Guard began its rescue mission Sunday after a “good Samaritan” reported “an overturned 25-foot vessel with four people clinging to it” 29 miles off St. Lucie Inlet.
“Smugglers routinely exploit vulnerable aliens for profit while putting their lives at risk aboard overloaded and unseaworthy vessels,” Insignares said. “These dangerous and illegal voyages must not be attempted. Safe, legal and orderly migration saves lives. Don’t take to the sea.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
