SAN DIEGO, CA — Eight people died after at least one boat capsized late Saturday along Black’s Beach in San Diego, according to authorities.
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Emergency personnel received a 911 call around 11:30 p.m. from a person reporting a panga boat had capsized and there were victims in the water, while another panga had made it to shore, according to the San Diego Fire Department.
The vessels were suspected to be smuggling boats, authorities said at a news conference Sunday streamed by the department on Facebook Live, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection was among the agencies that responded to the scene. One boat was reportedly carrying 15 people and another was carrying eight, according to authorities.
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Lifeguards discovered several bodies and two overturned pangas spread over about 400 yards on the beach, according to the fire department, which said no one was found alive but lifejackets and fuel barrels were located nearby. The deceased were all adults, authorities said.
Tides made the scene difficult to access, according to James Gartland, chief of the department’s lifeguard division.
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“That area’s a very hazardous area, even in the daytime,” he said.
The search is expected to continue Sunday, according to U.S. Coast Guard Capt. James Spitler, who said the number of deaths along the California coast is unknown, and boats are often overloaded and travel in low-visibility conditions like those Saturday night.
“Every time they get into a panga to come northbound their lives are at risk,” he said.
Since 2017, human trafficking in the southern California coastal region has increased 771 percent, according to authorities, who said Saturday’s incident is among the deadliest maritime fatalities in San Diego border patrol history.
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