MIAMI (AP) — More than 150 Haitians jumped from a freighter into the Miami River and swam ashore Tuesday, then were chased around riverfront businesses by U.S. immigration agents and police.
It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt.
Miami police said the jumpers were undocumented Haitians. At least 120 people were captured and many were ordered to sit against the wall of a warehouse near the river, which divides downtown Miami from the ritzy high-rises to the south and is frequented by small freighters from the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
Forty teenagers were among the Haitians who jumped from the green-and-white freighter named Rose-Marie Express as it pulled into dock, police said. Some of the passengers ducked into waiting cars and escaped while others hid under the docks.
A U.S. Customs agent raced to the dock after receiving a call that a ship might be off-loading drugs, said Customs spokesman Mark Bastan.
Crewmen on the freighter pointed into the murky waters as men in patrol boats searched for the Haitians in the river.
The U.S. Coast Guard in July began banning wooden freighters such as the Rose-Marie Express from entering Miami River because they are not considered safe. The ships are generally driven by small diesel engines that would power a small truck.