Boat believed to be carrying migrants capsizes off California coast, leaving 3 dead and 9 missing

A small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized early Monday off San Diego’s Pacific coast and left three people dead and four injured, while U.S. Coast Guard crews were searching for nine others, officials said.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey said it was unclear where the boat was coming from before it flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the Mexico border. He described the vessel as a panga. Pangas are open fishing boats commonly used by smugglers.

“They were not tourists,” Sappey said. “They are believed to be migrants.”

Officials had no other details about those on board, including the three who died. The four injured people were taken to hospitals. The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter and boat to search for the missing.

Hikers and others at Torrey Pines State Beach reported seeing a boat capsize near the shore at about 6:30 a.m., said Lt. Nick Backouris of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

“A doctor hiking nearby called in and said, ‘I see people doing CPR on the beach, I’m running that way,’” Backouris said.

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 single engine was visibly damaged.

Smuggling off the California coast has long been a risky alternative for migrants to avoid heavily guarded land borders. Small boats with single or twin engines known as “pangas” leave from the Mexican coast in the dead of night, sometimes charting hundreds of miles north.

In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach amid heavy fog. One boat capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the U.S. coast.