Eight persons are dead and a minimum of seven others remain missing after two boats carrying migrants capsized off the coast of San Diego on Saturday, local officials said.
Authorities were alerted to the wrecks shortly after 11:30 p.m. when a girl called 911 saying she had traveled from Mexico in a ship that overturned, leaving several people stranded, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Initial recovery efforts by the San Diego Lifeguards off Black’s Beach near Torrey Pines were hampered as a result of heavy fog.
“We couldn’t get any helicopters up,” San Diego Fire-Rescue’s deputy chief of operations Daniel Eddy told OnScene TV, the Union-Tribune reported.
“We had boats within the water, but at break of day, once all of the conditions clear, we can have Coast Guard out here and San Diego Fire-Rescue and lifeguards doing a joint search through the water for any possible victims which can be left.”
In keeping with Eddy, the 2 boats churned up an 800-yard debris field across Black’s Beach, which is jointly maintained by the town and the state.
A Coast Guard frigate was dispatched to the world, in addition to San Diego police and Customs and Border Protection officers, the Union-Tribune said.
As much as 18 migrants are believed to have been traveling on the 2 vessels, the Times of San Diego said.
A videographer from the scene told the outlet that the bodies of men and girls washed up on shore for several hours.
The stays of two panga boats, or small fishing vessels, in addition to life jackets and fuel barrels, were also recovered, KGTV reported.
San Diego Fire-Rescue couldn’t be reached for a comment.
