88 people 'rescued' by a bottle

Eighty-eight South Americans rescued at sea after sending a message in a bottle calling for help returned to Ecuador yesterday.

The 45 Ecuadoreans and 43 Peruvians were rescued by the Costa Rican vessel, MarViva I, on 29 May, nine days after departing Ecuador.

They said the smugglers they had paid to help them reach America had left them adrift in a leaking wooden boat three days earlier.

Their message was spotted on 28 May. Despite being close to death, some of them said they would attempt the trip again. Peruvian Alfredo Quito, 22, said this had been his fifth failed attempt to reach the US.

The boat was towed to an island about 360 miles off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.