The U.S. Coast Guard called off a search for six people off the Florida coast but are continuing to look for 10 other people that went missing in a separate incident.
The guard stopped searching for six people Sunday who were reported missing roughly 23 miles off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida , according to a press statement.
“The decision to suspend a search-and-rescue case is never one we come to lightly,” Captain JoAnn Burdian, commander of the Coast Guard Sector Miami, said in a statement. “We offer our deepest sympathies to the friends and families of those involved during this difficult time.”
The Coast Guard had received a call Wednesday from a bystander that there was a Jamaican national found atop a capsized vessel, according to the statement.
A Coast Guard crew rescued the stranded man, who informed them that there were six other people who were in the water when their boat capsized after they departed from Bimini, Bahamas. (RELATED: Authorities Rescue 66 Stranded Ice Fisherman)
The Coast Guard searched nearly 10,700 miles for a total of 140 hours and even involved the Florida Wing Civil Air Patrol to search for survivors.
A second search involves 10 missing people who left Havana, Cuba, Sunday for Florida in a “6-foot makeshift vessel,” according to the U.S. Seventh District Coast Guard.
#BreakingNews 10 people missing after reportedly leaving Havana, Cuba Sunday for Florida in a 6-foot makeshift vessel. @USCG crews are searching. #SAR pic.twitter.com/cDIBnBx578
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) February 12, 2021
#UPDATE @USCG and a good Samaritan located the boat used by the 10 people that went missing outside of Key West. The vessel was located approximately 8 miles south of Long Key. The search continues.#D7 #USCG #SearchAndRescue pic.twitter.com/2N4c47HM2q
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) February 15, 2021
It’s unclear why the vessel went missing, a spokesperson told CNN.