SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) — At least eight people died when two suspected smuggling boats approached the coast of San Diego and one capsized, and crews were searching Sunday for an estimated seven more. more victims, authorities said.
A woman in one of the panga-style boats called 911 on Saturday to report that another boat had capsized in the waves at Blacks Beach, according to US Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm.
“The lady who called said the boat that capsized had 15 people on it, but that’s just an estimate,” Brahm said.
Coast Guard and San Diego Fire-Rescue crews pulled eight bodies from the water, but thick fog hampered the search for more victims. A Coast Guard cutter was combing the area early Sunday, and officials hope to get helicopters in the air if the weather clears, Brahm said.
Daniel Eddy, the deputy chief of operations for San Diego Fire-Rescue, said there was a high debris field at Black’s Beach. Black’s Beach is jointly owned by the city of San Diego and the state. The stretch of sand is also known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Eddie Berrios confirmed that eight people had died and teams were searching for at least seven more. He didn’t know what kind of boats they were, but said pangas – small open boats with outboard engines used in smuggling operations – often came ashore.
Brahm did not know if anyone on the second boat was injured or if the Border Patrol caught them.
It is unclear if any arrests have been made and the nationalities of the passengers are unknown. Illegal crossings have soared under President Joe Biden, with many migrants turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents and being released into the United States to pursue their cases in immigration court.
A pandemic rule set to expire on May 11 denies migrants the chance to seek asylum to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but enforcement has fallen unevenly among Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans and El Salvadorans because because it is the only nationality that is accepted in Mexico. will be withdrawn. As a result, people in the four countries are more likely to try to evade arrest, knowing they will likely be deported under the public health rule, known as Title 42 authority. Mexico has recently begun the repatriation of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans under Title 42.
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Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.
