Six Cubans trying to reach Mexico spent two months at sea, mostly on a nine-metre boat, before landing on Mustang Island on the Texas coast, United States Customs and Border Protection officials said on Thursday.
Five men were treated and released from hospital early on Thursday, a day after they were found on the beach. The sixth person, a woman, remained in hospital in a stable condition.
”They were somewhat malnourished and dehydrated,” a spokesman for the agency said.
After being processed by the Border Patrol and having hearing dates set, the men were released to relatives from Dallas or put on a bus to join relatives in Miami, Border Patrol agent Felix Cantu said.
Cantu said the six left Manzanillo, Cuba, on a raft on June 25. He said they bought their boat, water and fuel in the Cayman Islands five days later.
He said Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie probably blew their boat off course. – Guardian Unlimited Â