Three people were killed, four were hospitalized, and nine others remain missing after a panga-style boat capsized early Monday morning off the coast of San Diego, in what U.S. Coast Guard officials are treating as a suspected human smuggling operation. The 12-foot vessel overturned near Torrey Pines State Beach, about 15 miles north of downtown, triggering a multi-agency search and rescue effort.
The incident was first reported around 6:30 a.m., when hikers at Torrey Pines spotted the boat flipping in high surf. Lt. Nick Backouris of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department told the Associated Press, "A doctor hiking nearby called in and said, 'I see people doing CPR on the beach, I'm running that way.'"
U.S. Coast Guard spokespersons said helicopters and rescue boats were deployed to search for the missing individuals. A 45-foot-long response boat and an aircraft conducted sweeps of the shoreline and surrounding waters, as local lifeguards and law enforcement combed the beach. The Coast Guard confirmed the incident is being treated as a "mass casualty event."
"Coast Guard is currently searching for 9 missing individuals off the Coast of Del Mar, California. Search began after receiving a report of an overturned vessel," a Coast Guard official said, noting that the origin of the vessel remains unknown. Officials believe at least 16 individuals were on board, including two children, according to CBS affiliate KFMB.
Four survivors were transported to local hospitals, though their conditions were not immediately released. The immigration status of those aboard has not been confirmed. It was “too early to know whether the individuals on board were undocumented immigrants," said Jorge Sanchez, deputy chief of the Encinitas Fire Department, in an interview at the scene.
No arrests have been made, and the San Diego Sheriff's Office said no one had been detained in connection with the capsizing.
Panga boats, typically small open fishing vessels with outboard motors, are frequently used in maritime smuggling operations. In one of the deadliest such incidents in recent U.S. history, eight people died in 2023 when two panga boats carrying migrants capsized in the surf near San Diego.
