[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
26917: Hermantin(Sun-Sentinel)911 call directs police to boatload of Haitian migrants (fwd)
From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>
911 call directs police to boatload of Haitian migrants
Boat found off Hobe Sound
By Leon Fooksman
and Stephen Deere staff Writers
December 16, 2005
A boatload of Haitians was found safe off Martin County early Thursday
afternoon, hours after police received a frantic 911 call from them.
The initial call for help came to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office about
10 a.m. The caller was aboard a 27-foot boat with about 20 other people,
including two infants and a pregnant woman.
The caller said the Haitians had put to sea in Port-au-Prince about 10 days
ago. The motor on the boat broke several days ago, and they had no food or
water left, the caller said. Some people were becoming ill.
But, the caller said, they could see land at times and had decided to try their
luck using a cell phone. They dialed 911 and asked for help.
"We got four little kids with us," said the caller, who identified himself as
"Sean" on a 911 tape the Sheriff's Office released Thursday afternoon. "We are
north of Palm Beach."
Sean could not identify any landmarks, except to say he could see the buildings
in West Palm Beach.
On the tape, Sean appeared confused about the boat's whereabouts and at one
point told the 911 dispatcher that he was in the Intracoastal Waterway. Sean
also told the dispatcher he was about 20 kilometers from land. Then later he
changed that to 300 or 400 yards.
"Do you have any kind of horn?" The dispatcher asked.
"Yeah, we have horn," Sean said. "We've been honking it for the last two days."
Sheriff's Office and Coast Guard helicopters immediately launched a search for
the boat but at first could not find it.
Shortly after 1 p.m., the Haitians were found safe aboard the stranded boat, 10
to 15 miles off the coast of Hobe Sound, said Paul Miller, a spokesman for the
Sheriff's Office.
The immigrants were being held aboard a Coast Guard cutter and were given food
and water, said Petty Officer Ryan Doss, a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami. Doss
did not know if any of them required medical attention.
Doss said he could not provide more details on the status of the Haitians until
immigration officials decide their fate.
If immigrants are found to be undocumented, the Coast Guard will typically
repatriate them, Petty Officer Dana Warr said.
Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel