Two Cuban toddlers die at sea during migration attempt to Mexico

Two-year-old Cuban twin brothers, Leosdel and Leosniel Oviedo Garrobo, died at sea while attempting to migrate from Cuba to Mexico. The toddlers reportedly succumbed to severe dehydration after spending nine days adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

The twins were traveling with their mother, 35-year-old Yusimy Garrobo Leiva, and 14 other passengers on a raft that departed from Cuba on August 11. The group intended to reunite with the twins' father, Leobel Ricardo Oviedo, who resides in Cancún.

On August 20, the Mexican Navy located the vessel northeast of Progreso, Yucatán. Rescuers from the Yucalpetén Naval Search and Rescue Station intercepted the raft and found 16 occupants, including four minors, suffering from extreme exhaustion and sun exposure. While the surviving 14 passengers were stabilized at the Ninth Naval Zone base and transferred to the National Migration Institute, the two children died from their medical conditions.