The Trump administration is moving to send the two survivors of Thursday’s strike in the Caribbean overseas rather than seek long-term military detention for them, four US officials and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
The source, who like the US officials spoke on condition of anonymity, said the survivors were being sent to Colombia and Ecuador.
The US military staged a helicopter rescue for the survivors on Thursday after the strike on their semi-submersible vessel, suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics. The strike killed the other two crew members on board, sources told Reuters on Friday.
The US military flew the survivors to an American navy warship in the Caribbean, where they were detained until at least Friday evening. It was not clear if they had already been flown off the ship as of Saturday morning.
The US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expected the survivors to eventually be sent to their home countries.