FORT LAUDERDALE -- Cruise officials confirmed that 28 passengers on the current voyage of Holland America's Amsterdam have caught a stomach virus, bringing the total to at least 465 on the ship's last four sails.

The 28 who got sick on the current 10-day Caribbean cruise, along with 32 of their traveling companions, were flown home from Curacao when the ship made a scheduled stop there, company spokesman Erik Elvejord said.

The Amsterdam departed Monday with 1,316 passengers after 600 workers had cleaned and sanitized the ship for 10 hours.

Elvejord said if more people become ill on this trip, the company will consider canceling the ship's next cruise, scheduled to depart Thursday. The virus spreads through food and water and contact with infected people or things they touched.

8 who fled Cuba released

MIAMI -- Eight Cubans who flew a Soviet-built crop duster plane to Florida this week were released from detention Friday.

After routine medical tests and vaccinations, the eight, including a 2-year-old girl, were expected to be released to relatives.

"I'm doing well. I'll talk later," pilot Nemencio Carlos Alonso Guerra said in Spanish, responding to questions from journalists.

The group made their risky flight Monday, landing at Key West International Airport under escort by two Florida National Guard fighters scrambled when the biplane was detected on radar.

The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act lets Cubans who reach American soil apply for U.S. residency.

Miami police chief to quit

MIAMI -- Police Chief Raul Martinez, who in May 2000 took over a department plagued by shooting scandals, announced Friday he will resign Jan. 1.

Martinez, a native Cuban who became the city's first Hispanic police chief, is stepping down to spend more time with his family, City Manager Carlos Gimenez said.

His resignation comes amid a series of Miami Herald articles looking into the questionable shootings by officers.

Martinez replaced William O'Brien, who resigned under criticism by then-Mayor Joe Carollo for failing to inform him of the federal raid that snatched young Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk