Raftsmen missing since December 28 could be stranded in Sal Cay

A group of Cuban rafters missing since December 28 could be stranded in Sal Cay, according to data from some Internet users.

In the Facebook group Balseros de Cuba, user Adrián Pulido shared a message in which he asks for help to identify the possible direction taken by the migrants who left Cuba on December 28, in a green boat with blue tanks on the sides and called The Dove.

Rosnery Roque, wife of one of the migrants, told CiberCuba that the last thing they heard from them was that the boat had broken down in Salt Cay, a territory that belongs to the Bahamas. "We are asking for help" for his rescue, he said.

The woman also commented that she had this information thanks to another rafter friend of the family who arrived in the United States on Sunday and contacted her mother. The young man asked that they notify the family of the rafters stranded on the key, as he claims that there is at least one other man.

On that trip they were in total 27 rafters. There are no children, the majority were men and about four women.

Relatives are desperate for any confirmation that the migrants are still alive. On Facebook, user Tefy Yasiel commented: "The one in the green pants is my cousin, he is with his wife. Please, any information would be appreciated."

Cuba lives the biggest migration crisis of its history. More than 220 thousand Cubans left the country in 2022 and so far in the current fiscal year that began in October, there are already more than 4,076 rafters intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard.

On the first day of January, the United States Border Patrol (USBP) detained more than 160 rafters in the vicinity of the Florida Keys.

On December 30, Bahamas authorities intercepted 53 Cuban rafters very close to Anguilla Cay, after being shipwrecked in his attempt to reach the United States.