WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Eighty-eight Haitians were repatriated to their country after being rescued from a sinking freighter north of Tortuga, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard officials said the group was returned to Cap-Haitien Tuesday after they were found aboard a "grossly overweight" vessel during the weekend, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.
The Coast Guard said last week it repatriated 78 Haitian nationals after Bahamian authorities found them in an overloaded 30-foot freighter. It was the first reported sea incident involving repatriating Haitian nationals since a devastating earthquake ravaged Haiti Jan. 12, the newspaper said.
The Coast Guard said it didn't see any immediate evidence that Haitians were trying to flee the country in the aftermath of the earthquake that left millions homeless.
