(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 28 - The photo of a young migrant sitting on the overturned hull of the boat on which he was traveling with 39 other desperate people, including his sister, went around the world. Alone, in the middle of the sea, the only survivor of the last tragedy of the sea on the route to Florida.
Bbc Mundo has discovered that the young man is called Juan EstebanMontoya, he is 22 years old and is Colombian. He said he left Bimini Island in the Bahamas at dawn on January 23 with other migrants and his younger sister Maria Camila.
None of the passengers wore a life jacket as Juan reported that he was rescued by the tugboat SignetIntruder on Tuesday, three days after the sinking. With him 20 other people tried to resist clinging to the hull, but gave up.
"At 8:05 we took him aboard and he was treated immediately, he was dehydrated, we gave him water and soft food. He was very weak and very distressed," said the captain.
Yesterday the US Coast Guard recovered five corpses and then declared the searches concluded.
Overloaded boat accidents are not uncommon in the Florida waters.
Many of the cases involve migrants from Cuba and Haiti trying to reach the United States.
On the day of the shipwreck, the Coast Guard intercepted 191 Haitian citizens at sea near the Bahamas.
A few days earlier, 88 Haitians had been found on another overloaded vessel in the area.
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