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

At least eight people were killed and seven more were missing Sunday after a boat accident off a San Diego beach, authorities said.

San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Mónica Muñoz said in a statement the department communications center received a 911 call at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday from a woman who said 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 motors – had capsized with eight people aboard and victims were in the water, Muñoz said.

Lifeguard teams, unable to immediately access the beach because of high tide, waded through water up to waist deep before reaching two overturned pangas and bodies scattered over 400 yards of beach an surf, Muñoz said. 

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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.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Eddie Berrios said teams were searching for at least seven more. Several lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found. Searches continued Sunday morning.  

Developments:

• Police, fire, 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 told KGTV that it attempted to send up two helicopters to help search for the victims, but conditions were too foggy and misty.

Contributing: The Associated Press