Jun 18, 11:50 AM EDT

Cuba says 2 die as smugglers overturn boat



HAVANA (AP) -- Smugglers fleeing from Cuba's Coast Guard overturned a boat loaded with U.S.-bound migrants to distract pursuers, killing a woman and an 11-year-old boy, Cuba reported Wednesday.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said the deaths occurred Monday off the northern coast of the central province of Villa Clara.

The smugglers, who were charging US$10,000 a head to take 20 people to the United States, escaped in their speedboat after being surprised by the Coast Guard, the newspaper said.

Granma blamed the deaths on "murderous" American immigration laws that generally allow Cubans who can reach U.S. soil to stay. Cubans found at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard are usually repatriated.

Killed in the smuggling attempt were Yudersi Rosabal Rodriguez, a woman from the central city of Sagua la Grande, and 11-year-old Jorge Luis Nunez Sanchez, from a rural community called La Sierra.

The boy's mother, Vivian Sanchez Cabrera, was also on the boat and survived. She was described as "weeping inconsolably" for the loss of her only child.







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