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Havana (AFP) – At least three people died while attempting to swim in Cuba’s Caribbean Sea on Friday as crews of the country’s national cruise ship and marina set out to rescue five people believed to have been stranded in rough waters off the southern Caribbean island.

The deaths marked the first ever fatality in Cuba since President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro agreed to end more than 20 years of trade embargo, but the toll could rise in the coming days.

Two of the victims, an American, and a Briton, were members of the United States National Ballet, which had been setting out from Havana for an international concert at the U.S. embassy.

The crew of the ship — a 15-masted vessel — was on their way to the shore when they were attacked by a group of five unidentified men about 1 p.m., witnesses told Reuters, adding that they had not seen any survivors.

Four of the dead were American and two were Britons, the witness told The Associated Press. All of the passengers were taken to local hospitals.

No one has described the passengers’ names or conditions and none of the victims had been treated in Cuba, which has few legal protections for citizens.

The captain, Ernesto Valenzuela, told the Associated Press that three of the dead were crew, one was maintenance and one was an “expert” in the water.

He declined to give further details, describing the incident as being under investigation, the AP reported.

The American passenger was an actor working on the company’s tour of the U.S. mainland. The Briton was a member of the US Naval Academy.

The four injured were described as being in serious condition, with one man in a stable condition, one in a 내국인 카지노moderate condition and one in a critical condition, according to a hospital statement.

The Cuban cruise ship that capsized in a head-on collision with another ship was carrying about 70 people, including several children, from the coast of Miami, authorities said. No one else was on board.

At카지노 슬롯 머신 least 12 people were rescued from the accid마카오 카지노 여자ent, authorities said, adding that 11 others were already rescued.

A U.S. ship was called off its search for survivors on Friday evening as a rescue operation continued.

- Cuban dead -

Authorities are investigating whether all the bodies had been returned to the country by the time the cruise vessel sank