MIAMI (AP) _ The U.S. Coast Guard says nine Cuban migrants died and 18 others have been rescued after their boat was found off the western Florida coast.
The Coast Guard said in a press release Friday that the group’s boat was found by a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
The migrants were suffering from severe dehydration and said they’d been at sea 22 days.
They were picked up off the coast of Marco Island in southwest Florida.
The cruise ship was taking them to its next port of call in Cozumel, Mexico.
The rescue comes as President Barack Obama travels to Cuba to meet with President Raul Castro.
