Migrants rescued from sinking boat

GUATEMALA CITY - A group of 166 Latin Americans trying to reach the United States illegally was plucked from a small sinking boat in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemalan authorities said.

The rescue comes after more than 100 Ecuadoreans drowned earlier this month when a wooden fishing boat with a capacity of 13 people sank in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia. Nine people aboard survived the disaster.

Guatemalan immigration services spokeswoman Lorena Rosales said those aboard the sinking boat, mainly Ecuadoreans and Peruvians, were picked up on Friday by the US coastguard and dropped off in Guatemala.

The rescue, Rosales said, took place in international waters to the west of Guatemala.

- REUTERS