34 Missing boaters found safe in Venezuela

Caracas, Agency
The three boats that disappeared last weekend after going off their scheduled route to Margarita Island have been found and the 34 passengers on board will now be rescued, Venezuelan authorities said Monday.

The boats were found on a beach in the eastern Caribbean coastal state of Sucre and the passengers are in good health.

A Venezuelan navy helicopter on Monday morning spotted the three boats on the northern portion of Cabo Tres Puntas, 40 miles from the Los Testigos archipelago, from where the boats set sail, coast guard chief Luis Inciarte said.

In remarks to Globovision television, Inciarte said that authorities were proceeding to examine the state of health of the 34 people traveling on the boats, among whom are four children.

The search operation for the small boats - known as "peñeros" - was launched on Saturday afternoon after they did not arrive at the scheduled time at Margarita Island from the Los Testigos archipelago, located 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of that island.

Why the boats changed course is still not known although authorities think that, because of the place where they were found, it was probably "a mechanical failure or disorientation in their course due to weather conditions," Inciarte said.

A navy frigate is heading to the site where the boats are beached to rescue the occupants, officials said.

The people on board the boats are residents of Margarita Island who had traveled to Los Testigos to attend a religious gathering.