NATION : Fleeing Haitians Threaten Babies
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MIAMI — Haitian refugees threatened to drop five babies overboard if they were forced to board a Coast Guard cutter but were talked out of their plan and brought to Miami, Coast Guard officials said today.
A Coast Guard jet spotted the 50-foot Haitian sailboat St. Nicholas, which was carrying 109 refugees, 100 miles southeast of Miami on Thursday afternoon.
Several of the Haitians threatened officers on the Coast Guard cutters with knives and machetes, the Coast Guard said. The captain of the boat and several other refugees then grabbed five babies and held them out over the water until immigration officials were airlifted to the scene and talked the men out of dropping the babies into the water.
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