Three people are confirmed dead, and nine others are unaccounted for after a suspected smuggling boat capsized off Del Mar early Monday morning.
Local fire crews, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security, responded to an area just north of Torrey Pines State Beach around 6:30 a.m., where the panga had washed ashore, officials told KTLA 5 News.
“It was estimated to be approximately 18 people on the beach, so we upgraded this to a major medical response due to the number of potential victims,” said Jorge Sanchez, a deputy chief with the Encinitas Fire Department.
Three people were declared dead at the scene. Four survived and needed medical care, Coast Guard spokesperson Hunter Schnabel said.
Crews frantically searched by boat, jet ski and helicopter for additional victims or survivors. Children are believed to be among the missing, Schnabel said.
“A doctor hiking nearby called in and said, ‘I see people doing CPR on the beach, I’m running that way,'” said Lt. Nick Backouris of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Winds were light in the area, with slow-rolling waves reaching about 6 feet (1.8 meters), according to Sebastian Westerink, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego. The water temperature was 63 degrees (17 Celsius), he said.
A bulldozer moved the panga on the beach as the search was underway. The wooden dinghy that was over 20 feet 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 engine was visibly damaged.
Panga landings are relatively frequent in Southern California as immigrants risk their safety aboard these overcrowded boats to reach the United States from Mexico.
Recently, the city of San Clemente has considered installing surveillance cameras along its coastline to help alert authorities when pangas are spotted.
In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog. One boat capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the U.S. coast.
A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off San Diego’s coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen others.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.