KEY POINTS

  • The trio was flown to a hospital and is in good health
  • The people claimed to have swum to the island after their boat capsized 
  • It is unclear whether they are migrants or fishermen

A trio from Cuba who survived on a deserted island for 33 days just on coconuts was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Tuesday.

According to the Coast Guard officials, two men and a woman were spotted waving flags Monday during a routine air patrol of the waters around Anguilla Bay, in a chain of islands between the Lower Keys and Cuba, reported Sun-Sentinel.

Aircraft Commander Mike Allert told Local 10 that he decided to fly back around to investigate some unusual flags on the island that he noticed.

“We were alerted to them by the flags they had, in addition to a large cross that they put out there for themselves,” Allert told the local publication.

After the discovery, a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew departed from Opa-Locka to fly over the area to drop off water, food, and a radio.

They were picked up by a helicopter the next day and flown to Lower Keys Medical Center. No injuries were reported.

The Coast Guard officials told officials that they managed to swim to the deserted island after their boat capsized in rough waters nearly five weeks earlier.

Lt. Justin Dougherty of the USCG told Local 10 that they were stranded on the island for over a month.

"They were actually there for 33 days — more than a month. To survive on coconuts is pretty extraordinary. It was incredible. I don’t know how they did it. I am amazed that they were in such good shape when we saw them,” Dougherty said.

According to Sun-Sentinel, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Murray said that it is not clear whether the trio was fishermen or migrants trying to make it to the U.S. or another country. Nonetheless, the officer was amazed that they survived.

"I cannot recall a time that we saved people who were stranded for over a month on an island. That is a new one for me.”

Last year, three men were rescued from a tiny Pacific island after they wrote a giant SOS sign on the sand that was spotted by searchers on Australian and U.S. aircraft. The men had gone missing in the Micronesia archipelago for nearly three days when their distress signal was spotted.

The Micronesian sailors were rescued after a search party spotted a giant SOS they had scrawled on the beach
Representational image Australian Defence Force / Handout
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