Quashing rumors of epidemics raging aboard the refugee linar Navemar, now anchored in Havana harbor, the Cuban medical authorities today gave the ship a clean bill of health and permitted the landing of 360 Jewish refugees who hold Cuban visas.
These 360 will be held in an immigration center for a short time until they complete various legal formalities.
The Navemar, which sailed from Lisbon on August 17, carried nearly 1,200 passengers in a freighter built to accommodate only fifteen. Before it left Lisbon the vessel was described as a floating concentration camp. The Cuban doctors, however, expressed surprise at the small amount of illness on board under the crowded, unsanitary circumstances. En route to Cuba four passengers died.
Although the passengers described the trip from Lisbon as “awful” they were all glad to have finally reached American shores after the severe hardships they have gone through not only on the voyage, but before.
The Navemar is due in New York some time this week bringing the remaining 800 passengers who hold United States visas.
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