While the numbers on a single ship seemed unprecedented, it is not unusual for currents and winds to carry Haitians to Cuba, which borders most of the sea path between Haiti and the U.S. Cuba returns most of the arriving migrants to Haiti.
A vessel carrying more than 800 Haitians trying to reach the United States wound up instead on the coast of central Cuba, government news media said Wednesday, AP reports.
It appeared to be the largest group yet in a swelling exodus of people from crisis-stricken Haiti. The U.S. Coast Guard and other nations have reported intercepting several boats carrying well over 100 Haitians in recent months.
The new group that arrived Tuesday at Villa Blanca, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Havana, included 70 children and 97 women, two of them pregnant, the Telecubanacan broadcaster reported on its Facebook.
Telecubanacan journalist Máximo Luz said “adverse navigation conditions” brought the Haitians to Cuba, where “they sought the help of border guard troops.”
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