People smugglers abandoned 84 migrants from Haiti on a deserted island off the west coast of Puerto Rico, the US said.

Jeffrey Quinones, a spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection, said the Haitians were spotted by a US Coast Guard air patrol on the island of Desecheo, about 13 miles from the Puerto Rican mainland. Two coastguard cutters ferried them to Puerto Rico.

Mr Quinones said it was not uncommon for migrant smugglers to leave people on the small islands off western Puerto Rico, falsely telling the people they have reached their destination.

He said two women were taken to hospital for non-life-threatening reasons but the rest of the 82 passengers appeared in good health. They are expected to be deported back to their homeland.

Several hundred Haitians have been detained trying to enter Puerto Rico this year.

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