Four people died and five were injured after a small boat capsized off the coast of San Diego early Saturday.
Border patrol officers discovered a wooden skiff in the surf off Imperial Beach, where six people were discovered just before midnight. One person was pronounced dead and another person was rescued after being found under the boat.
Authorities also received a report of someone in the water near Imperial Beach Pier, where the Coast Guard discovered three people in the ocean, all dead.
The boat was believed to be carrying immigrants into the United States. Their identities have not been released.
Footage from the scene showed crews searching for survivors in the dark. Several survivors were taken to the hospital.
Several of the survivors claimed Mexican nationality, while others remained unidentified, according to Coast Guard officials. One person was turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Our crews and partner agencies responded immediately, but this case demonstrates the severe risks posed to aliens attempting to enter the United States by sea in unstable vessels,” said Coast Guard Capt. Robert Tucker, Sector San Diego commander.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the incident, along with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
“We have Coast Guard still out there, you know, looking out there in the water to see if there are any other bodies out there,” Fire chief John French told Fox5 San Diego from the scene.
One witness told Sideo TV that he was fishing on the Imperial Beach pier when he saw one of the victims unresponsive in the water.
“We were out here, like, chilling with our friends – me and my brother and his two other friends,” he said. “We noticed that the helicopter was circling around us.”
Several migrant vessels have capsized off the California coast in recent years as the growing number of people who died while attempting to cross borders has set records five years in a row.
In May, at least three people died when a vessel flipped off the coast about 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one of them capsized in the surf, marking the deadliest maritime smuggling incidents in waters off the U.S. coast.
Worldwide, nearly 9,000 people died last year attempting to cross borders, according to the United Nations agency for migration. The death toll set a record for the fifth year in a row.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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