At least eight people die after two boats capsize near Black’s Beach in California
At least eight people have died and seven are still missing after two boats carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Black’s Beach in California on Saturday night.
A woman on a panga boat with 15 people that came ashore called 911 to report that another boat had capsized in the waves and people were in the water, according to the San Diego Fire Department.
When crews arrived, they found two overturned panga boats and bodies floating in the water for 400 yards. Life jackets and fuel barrels were also found.
Rescuers pulled seven bodies ashore at the scene and Border Patrol located the eighth body, SDFD spokeswoman Monica Munoz told Dailymail.com.
The bodies were turned over to the San Diego County Medical Examiner. Crews continued recovery efforts Sunday as storms continue to batter the California coast.
At least eight people died after two panga boats capsized near Blacks Beach in San Diego County, California, on Saturday night, the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department confirmed.
Surfers pass two boats sitting on Black’s Beach early Sunday after the boats capsized last night and lifeguards and Border Patrol washed eight bodies ashore.
When crews arrived, they found two overturned panga boats and bodies floating in the water for 400 yards. Life jackets and fuel barrels were also found.
Officials from the SDFD, San Diego Police, Customs Border Protection, US Coast Guard, State Lifeguards, UCSD Police and SDFD Lifeguards responded to the scene after the woman called 911.
“The woman who called said the boat that capsized had 15 people on board, but that was just an estimate,” said US Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm.
A lifeguard dispatcher used the GPS coordinates of the woman who called 911 to find the crash site, SDFD said. The location was about 800 yards north of the base of Black Gold Road.
The crews were unable to reach the beach due to high tide, so they were forced to wade through waist-deep water to reach the bodies and boats. a panga boat it is a style of fishing boat commonly used in the Caribbean and Central America.
Two helicopters were dispatched to search for victims last night, but SDFD said conditions were too cloudy.
Crews from the Coast Guard and the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department pulled eight bodies from the water, but thick fog made it difficult to search for more victims.
Boat salvageist Robert Butler picks up a dinghy in one of two dinghies sitting on Blacks Beach after eight people were killed when the dinghy capsized last night.
Two fuel tanks and a life preserver were found in the boats that capsized.
A Coast Guard cutter combed the area early Sunday and authorities hoped to have helicopters in the air when the weather cleared, Brahm said.
Daniel Eddy, deputy chief of operations for San Diego Fire-Rescue, said there was a large debris field in Black’s Beach.
Black’s Beach is jointly owned by the City of San Diego and the state. The stretch of sand is also known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Eddie Berrios confirmed that eight people were killed and crews were searching for at least seven more.
He didn’t know what kind of boats they were, but he said pangas, small open boats with outboard motors used in smuggling operations, often come ashore there.
Brahm did not know if anyone on the second boat was injured or if they were detained by Border Patrol.
Boat salvage KC Ivers places items on one of two boats sitting on Blacks Beach
Crews from the Coast Guard and the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department pulled eight bodies from the water, but thick fog made it difficult to search for more victims.
It was unclear if any arrests were made and the nationality of the passengers was unknown.
Surfers pass an upturned boat sitting on Blacks Beach Sunday after several people were killed when panga boats capsized off the coast last night.
It was unclear if any arrests were made and the nationality of the passengers was unknown. Illegal crossings have skyrocketed under the Joe Biden presidency, with many immigrants turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents and being released into the United States to take their cases to immigration court.
A pandemic rule scheduled to end on May 11 denies migrants the chance to seek asylum on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19, but the enforcement has fallen disproportionately on Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans because Those have been the only nationalities that Mexico agreed to. return.
As a result, people from those four countries are more likely to try to elude capture, knowing that they are likely to be removed under the public health rule, known as Title 42 authority.
Mexico recently began accepting Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans under Title 42.