US will send survivors of strike on suspected drug vessel to Ecuador, Colombia, source says

The two survivors of an American military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean will be sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, a US official said Saturday.

The military rescued the pair after striking a submersible vessel Thursday, in what was at least the sixth such attack since early September.

The repatriation avoids questions for the Trump administration about what the legal status of the two would have been in the US justice system.

The official who had knowledge of the matter was not authorised to discuss the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity.