The Cuban government says its forces have shot and killed four people on a US-registered speedboat that entered its waters and opened fire on a patrol boat.
It added that six others on the speedboat were injured.
The Cuban commander of the border patrol boat was also wounded, Cuba‘s interior ministry said.
The injured were evacuated and are receiving medical attention, it added.
The ministry said the incident is under investigation to clarify exactly what happened.
Florida‘s attorney general James Uthmeier said he was ordering prosecutors to open a separate investigation with other state and federal law enforcement partners, saying the Cuban account could not be trusted.
Florida congressman Carlos Gimenez, a Cuban-American former mayor of Miami, demanded an “urgent” investigation into what he called a “massacre”, adding US authorities “must determine whether any of the victims were US citizens or legal residents”.
The speedboat came within one nautical mile of a channel on Falcones Cay, on Cuba’s north coast, when it was approached by five members of a Cuban patrol unit, Cuba’s interior ministry said.
The crew of the speedboat then opened fire, wounding the commander of the Cuban vessel, the statement added.
None of the dead or wounded on the speedboat were identified, but Cuba said it was registered in Florida and provided the boat’s registration number.
“Faced with the current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defence is a fundamental pillar for the Cuban state in safeguarding its sovereignty and stability in the region,” the statement said.
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