Migrant landings close Dry Tortugas National Park

A U.S. national park comprising a cluster of islands in the Florida Keys was closed Monday after 300 migrants made landings there over the weekend. Separately, 160 migrants arrived by boats in other parts of the archipelago, officials said.

Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Key West, was closed so that law enforcement and medical personnel could evaluate the migrants before moving them to Key West, the park tweeted.

“The closure, which is expected to last several days, is necessary for the safety of visitors and staff because of the resources and space needed to attend to the migrants,” park officials said in their statement.

The national park is at the southern tip of the continental U.S. and attracts scuba divers and snorkelers for its coral reefs, nesting sea turtles, tropical fish and shipwrecks.

“Like elsewhere in the Florida Keys, the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and landing on the islands of Dry Tortugas National Park,” the National Park Service said in a news release.

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Published with permission of the Associated Press.