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At least eight people were killed when two vessels suspected of smuggling capsized in the waters off San Diego late Saturday.
Authorities were alerted to the incident when a Spanish-speaking woman called 911 for help around 11:30 p.m. She said that two boats were near Blacks Beach in her Pines neighborhood of Torrey in the city, one she had eight people on board and the other one she had from eight people. She said there were 10 people on board. Officials later said up to 15 people were on the second boat.
The 911 caller told the dispatcher that one of the boats he was on had reached shore and the other had capsized and people were in the water. However, when paramedics arrived on shore, they found that both boats had capsized and encountered no survivors, said James Gartland, lifeguard chief for the San Diego Fire Department.
A lifeguard dispatcher pinpointed the location using GPS coordinates from the woman’s cell phone, and crew members worked early Sunday morning in heavy fog and storm surge to retrieve the dead. Lifeguards who had been unable to reach the beach due to high tide had to head north through knee-to-waist-deep water, officials said.
A statement from the San Diego Fire Department said, “After several hundred yards, lifeguards on the beach reached dry sand and then found a lifeless corpse and two overturned pangas spread over a range of approximately 400 yards. “We also found some life jackets and fuel barrels.”
As of Sunday morning, eight bodies had been found. All victims are adults.
“We did our best to retrieve people from the water,” said Gartland, who said how many people survived and how many bodies remain to be pulled from the sea. “This is one of the worst sea-smuggling tragedies in California I can think of.”
Authorities did not provide the age, gender or nationality of the deceased. The body recovered by authorities was turned over to the San Diego County Coroner’s Office for identification.
Coast Guard and San Diego fire and rescue helicopters and Coast Guard cutters were expected to search the area for additional casualties early Sunday.
Coast Guard Capt. James Spitler, commander of the Coast Guard’s San Diego Sector, told reporters at a morning news conference that human trafficking in the Southern California coastal region has increased 771% since 2017. Twenty-three lives were lost at sea,” he said, warning that the true number of those who died on smuggling ships was unknown.
Spitler urged people to be aware of the risks of traveling north and into the United States on a Panga vessel with an open bow, like the one that capsized late Saturday.
“Every time they go north on a Panga, their lives are at risk,” Spittler said, adding that dangerous weather conditions combined with overloaded boats and poor maintenance made the hazards. I added that it is on the rise.
In 2021, a 40-foot Panga boat crashed into a rock at the foot of a cliff in Point Loma, San Diego, killing three people, one man and two women, and leaving 32 alive. That same year, one migrant drowned and 10 were rescued after a smuggling vessel crashed off La Jolla. Two of his men who led this expedition were later imprisoned in a federal prison.
“This is not necessarily about people trying to find a better life,” Spitler said at a press conference on Sunday. is.
Black’s Beach is jointly owned by the City of San Diego and the state. This sandy beach is also known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.
Times Staff Writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
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