November 22, 1991 - 135 Feared Lost As Haitian Boat Sinks Off Cuba

Immigration

As many as 135 Haitian refugees are believed to have drowned off the coast of Cuba on Tuesday night, when their sailboat was wrecked in stormy seas, the Cuban press agency reported today.

It was the first such disaster to be reported since a sudden exodus of Haitians from their island began in late October.

The Coast Guard's Miami office said that it could not confirm the report of the shipwreck, off Cape Maisi in Guantanamo Province. But a Coast Guard spokesman said that the seas were running 8 feet high with 20 knot winds on Tuesday night, weather too bad for cutters to continue their normal patrols. Two cutters in the area were riding at anchor. The United States Navy base at Guantanamo was apparently also not aware of the shipwreck. Deteriorating Weather

The Cuban press agency said that 60 survivors and 16 bodies had been found, and that 119 Haitians were missing and thought to have drowned. The bodies discovered were of two children, two men and 12 women, the Cuban agency said. The report could not be independently confirmed.

With weather conditions still deteriorating today, the Coast Guard said that there had been no reports of Haitian refugee boats intercepted since a small craft with 26 people aboard was encountered Wednesday.

Seas were 10 feet high today, and winds registered 30 knots, the Coast Guard said in Miami, raising fears that many Haitians might have perished unnoticed. Many officials said they believed that only half the Haitians who put to sea -- most of them in boats that are ill equipped, overloaded and not seaworthy -- survive the voyage.

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