3 migrants dead, dozens flee when freighter runs aground in Miami (Miami Herald)

3 migrants dead, dozens flee when freighter runs aground in Miami
Three migrants were found dead after a rusty cargo ship carrying a group of Brazilians and Dominicans ran aground near Miami Beach.

BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA, JOSE PAGLIERY AND ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@MiamiHerald.com

As dozens of apparently illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Brazil scrambled off a grounded freighter early Friday morning in the waters between Fisher Island and Virginia Key, leaving three dead, U.S. authorities spent the day and night trying to piece together the mystery of the rusty vessel and its foreign passengers.

Officials say 21 people, most from the Dominican Republic but a small number of Brazilians, were being held after they were rescued from the water or detained on board the 40-foot freighter, which appears to have run aground in the shallow channel between the two islands.

Late Friday, a search for others who may have been on the boat was suspended.

40 REPORTED ON BOARD

People from the boat told investigators the freighter carried about 40 passengers. That would leave as many as 16 people unaccounted for, although it's unclear whether the passengers' figure was correct, Coast Guard Capt. James Fitton said.

''We've done a pretty extensive search. We're pretty confident we've done a thorough job,'' Fitton said at an afternoon news conference, but added: ``Right now we don't have a firm head count.''

Fitton said the Coast Guard canvassed the area with helicopters and boats until sunset.

By evening, authorities were still sorting out what happened. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were investigating whether the migrants were brought by smugglers, although no suspects had been identified, law enforcement sources said.

Coast Guard and local police were alerted to the freighter at about 8 a.m., when someone at Jimbo's, a fish shack and shrimper's camp on Virginia Key, called fire rescue.

''The boat ran aground,'' said Petty Officer 2nd Class James Harless, a Coast Guard spokesman. ``It came into too-shallow water, so it hit the bottom.''

It's unclear if passengers began jumping into the water because the freighter was stranded and how long it was sitting there before it was spotted. When rescuers reached the ship, the anchor was down, Fitton said.

As U.S. Coast Guard, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami Fire Rescue ships closed in, some passengers began swimming to shore, officials said.

Rescuers pulled three bodies from the water after they presumably drowned. Their names, ages and nationalities were not available.

Seven people were detained on board the ship. Most of the rest were picked up in the water, said Miami-Dade fire spokesman Lt. Arnold Piedrahita, although at least one man appears to have made it to shore, where fire-rescue was waiting.

Four people, none seriously injured, were taken to Mt. Sinai and Mercy hospitals.

UNTYPICAL CASE

The case differs from the typical smuggling operation more common in recent years in South Florida, in which people are brought in from Cuba using speedboats. Federal authorities have been cracking down on such smugglers, indicting dozens of people in the past two years, most for operations involving Cuban migrants.

On Friday, authorities unveiled the latest case: Two men, Osmin Nodarse, 31, and John Sosa, 26, were indicted on charges of allegedly attempting to smuggle in 25 Haitians on two speedboats on Oct. 10.

'RUSTY' FREIGHTER

In contrast, the ship in Friday's incident was described as a ''rusty'' freighter of the type used to transport cargo between Caribbean islands or around the Bahamas. Authorities weren't saying where they believe the trip to have originated.

''It's a typical island-type freighter,'' Fitton said. ``Very old, very rusty, but seaworthy.''

Elee Erice, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman, said the passengers had been at sea for ''probably several days.'' Erice said four were Brazilian. She could not provide a breakdown by age or sex.

Herald Staff writers Kirstin Maguire, Jay Weaver and Casey Woods contributed to this report.