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Three people were killed and nine others, including two children, were missing after a small boat capsized in choppy waters off the coast of San Diego, California, on Monday.
The fatal disaster appeared to be an apparent migrant smuggling attempt, officials said. Four other people were rescued after the “panga”-style open fishing vessel washed ashore near Torrey Pines State Beach were transported to hospital, according to US Coast Guard officials.
A search was ongoing search for the nine people who remained unaccounted for, said a Coast Guard spokesperson, chief petty officer Levi Read. He said two children were believed to be among the missing. Of the four survivors from Thursday’s panga capsizing, one was listed in critical condition when rescued, according to a statement from the city of Encinitas.
At least some of the boat’s occupants were apparently from India, as a number of Indian passports “were found on the beach near where the panga washed up”, Read said.
Shawn Gibson, a special agent in charge of the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency, said the incident was a “stark reminder of the dangers posed by maritime smuggling”.
“The ruthless smuggling of undocumented individuals is not only illegal, it’s deadly,” Gibson said of the incident, which occurred about 30 miles north of the US-Mexico border. Read said ocean conditions off the San Diego county coast were rough at the time, with 7ft seas reported.
Hikers and others at Torrey Pines state beach reported seeing a boat capsize near the shore at about 6.30am, said Lt Nick Backouris of the San Diego sheriff’s department.
“A doctor hiking nearby called in and said: ‘I see people doing CPR on the beach, I’m running that way,’” Backouris said.
A bulldozer moved the “panga”, a type of open fishing boats commonly used by smugglers, on the beach as the search was under way. The wooden dinghy that was over 20ft long (6 meters) had scuffed blue paint and wooden planks for seats. Inside the boat were a pair of running shoes, more than a dozen life vests, an empty waterproof cell phone bag and various water bottles. Its single engine was visibly damaged.Smuggling off the California coast has long been a risky alternative for migrants to avoid heavily guarded land borders. Small boats with single or twin engines known as “pangas” leave from the Mexican coast in the dead of night, sometimes charting hundreds of miles north.In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach amid heavy fog. One boat capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the US coast.
