Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Dominican migrants lost at sea ate dead to survive

Five migrants rescued after 15 days lost at sea ate their dead comrades to stay alive, a Dominican official said on Sunday.

One of the five, the only woman in the group, died Sunday in a hospital after the group was found near the Turks and Caicos Islands, said Dominican Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia.

Garcia said the remaining four, part of a large group of migrants, told him that without food, they ate from the corpse of the last person to die.


Photo from here.

A total of 33 Dominican migrants were trying to reach Puerto Rico by boat when they were reported missing by relatives in mid-October. Survivors said they lost their way after the captain abandoned the ship. Bodies of the other dead were thrown into the sea, Garcia said they told him.

The five migrants were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard helicopter on Saturday and taken to a hospital on the island of Providenciales.

"The other four are dehydrated and have swollen legs but are expected to recover," Garcia said after visiting the survivors with Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick.

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