At least three people died after a boat that appeared to be carrying migrants overturned near San Diego on Monday, and there were indications that others might still be unaccounted for, officials said.
The authorities received a report of a capsized panga boat at Torrey Pines State Beach just before 7 a.m. on Monday, according to Jorge Moreno, a California State Parks spokesman.
Pangas are open boats that can carry people or drugs.
“This tragic maritime incident off the coast of San Diego is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by maritime smuggling,” Shawn Gibson, the special agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, said in a statement. “The ruthless smuggling of undocumented individuals is not only illegal, it’s deadly.”
Crews found 17 life jackets, he said. A survivor told members of the Encinitas Fire Department, which also responded, that there had been 18 people on the boat, though the department said that only seven people were found at the beach.
The boat’s point of departure and where it was headed were not immediately known. Details about its passengers were not available.
The U.S. Coast Guard said earlier on Monday that it was searching for nine people who were missing after it received a report of an overturned vessel.
Three people were found dead at the beach, Mr. Moreno said. Four other people — three females and one male — were taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla with respiratory-related issues, the hospital said on Monday. Three of the patients were in their 30s and one was a teenager, it said. The Encinitas Fire Department described three of the patients as having mild to moderate injuries and said that one person was in critical condition.
The parks department said that search and rescue efforts ended just before 9 a.m. local time.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s office said earlier on social media that its deputies were helping the Coast Guard provide “lifesaving measures” on a beach in Del Mar, Calif., a coastal city north of San Diego.
Neil Vigdor contributed reporting.