A boat carrying 842 Haitian migrants bound for the United States strayed off course and washed ashore along the north coast of Cuba instead, according to Cuban state media reports on Wednesday, leaving island authorities scrambling to provide the group with humanitarian aid.
State broadcaster Telecubanacan showed images of a single large gray ship crowded with Haitians lining the decks from bow to stern, and even on the rooftop, as it swayed in rough, windswept seas.
The boat was found early on Tuesday near Caibarien, state-run media reported, not far from Cayo Santa Maria, a popular vacation destination home to a strip of all-inclusive resort hotels. Several days of stormy weather and thunderstorms forced the boat towards Cuba, the report said.
