At least 8 dead, 7 missing in panga boat crash near San Diego beach

At least eight people were dead and a search was underway for more victims Sunday after a suspected human smuggling operation ended in tragedy off a San Diego beach, authorities said.

“This is one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies that I can think of in California, certainly here in the city of San Diego,” said James Gartland, chief of the lifeguard division in San Diego.

Gartland said a Spanish-speaking woman called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, saying she was on a panga boat with 15 people aboard that made it to the shore at Blacks Beach. The caller said another panga – relatively small fishing boats with outboard motor often used for smuggling operations – had capsized, and eight people were in the water.

Developments:

• Police and fire departments, the Coast Guard and Customs Border Protection aided the search and rescue effort.
• A lifeguard dispatcher used GPS coordinates from the caller’s cellphone to locate the wreckage.
• The San Diego Fire Department said it attempted to send up two helicopters to help search for victims, but conditions were too foggy and misty.

Gartland said access to the area was difficult, and when his team arrived the caller and other survivors were not in the area. All the victims were adults, he said.

“When we arrived on scene, both vessels were capsized and inside the shoreline,” he said. “That area is a very hazardous area, even in the daytime.”

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A Coast Guard cutter was combing the area near Blacks Beach for other victims, and officials hoped to use helicopters when weather improves, Coast Guard Capt. James Spitler said.

The dangers involved for people attempting to reach the U.S on small boats are immense, he said.

“Every time they get into a panga to come northbound their lives are at risk,” he said. “Often these boats are overloaded, the maintenance is poor and they often do it in weather like last night weather where there is very little visibility, very challenging for anyone to operate in those conditions. 

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Mónica Muñoz said the lifeguard teams, unable to immediately access the beach because of high tide, waded through water up to waist deep before reaching two overturned pangas with debris and bodies scattered over 400 yards of beach and surf.

The first lifeguards on the scene found seven bodies, pulling victims from knee-deep water and from the waterline up the beach to dry sand. An eighth body was found a short time later by Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations officers, Muñoz said. Several lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found.

Contributing: The Associated Press