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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Guardian staff and agencies

Lone survivor of migrant boat: ‘Mentally I was suffering … but I did not lose hope’

Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo’s sister was among the group of about 40 migrants who drowned. ‘Everybody was holding on to everybody. That’s why she drowned,’ he said.
Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo’s sister was among the roughly 40 migrants who drowned. ‘Everybody was holding on to everybody. That’s why she drowned,’ he said. Photograph: Cody Jackson/AP

The sole survivor of a capsized boat found near Florida’s coast said at least 15 other migrants tried to cling to the overturned vessel but couldn’t hold on, some desperately tired and hungry when they let go.

Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo, of Colombia, told a Spanish-language news conference in Fort Pierce, Florida, that a baby girl and other children were among the group of 40 that included Dominicans, Haitians, Bahamians and Jamaicans.

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