At least EIGHT people are dead and seven missing after two boats smuggling illegal immigrants capsize off the coast of San Diego during storms battering Californian coast
- Crews pulled eight bodies from the water at Black’s Beach in San Diego County, California on Saturday night after two migrant boats collided and capsized
- San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed eight people have died
- Lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found. Recovery efforts continued Sunday
At least eight people are dead after two boats carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Black’s Beach in California late Saturday night.
A woman who was on a panga boat with 15 people that made it to shore called 911 to report that another boat had capsized, and there were people were in the water, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
When crews arrived, they found two overturned panga boats and bodies floating in the water across 400 yards. Lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found.
Seven bodies were pulled to shore by lifeguards at the scene and Border Patrol located the eighth body, SDFD spokesperson Mónica Muñoz told Dailymail.com.
The bodies were turned over to the San Diego County Medical Examiner. Crews have continued recovery efforts Sunday as storms continue to batter the California coast.
At least eight people are dead after two panga boats capsized near Blacks Beach in San Diego County, California, late Saturday night, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed
Surfers pass two boats sitting on Black’s Beach early Sunday after the boats capsized last night and eight bodies were pulled to shore by lifeguards and Border Patrol
When crews arrived, they found two overturned panga boats and bodies floating in the water across 400 yards. Lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found
Officials with SDFD, San Diego police, Customs Border Protection, US Coast Guard, State Lifeguards, UCSD Police and SDFD Lifeguards responded to the scene.
A lifeguard dispatcher used GPS coordinates from the woman who called 911 to find the crash location, SDFD said. The location was about 800 yards north of the base of Black Gold Road.
Crews could not reach the beach due to high tide, so they were forced to wade out in waist-high water to reach the bodies and the boats. A panga boat is a style of fishing boat commonly used in the Caribbean and Central America.
Two helicopters were sent up to search for victims last night, but SDFD said conditions were too foggy.
Recovery efforts continued on Sunday morning. It’s unclear how many people were on the boats and how many people made it to shore. There were at least eight people from the 911 caller’s boat who made it to shore.
Daniel Eddy, San Diego Fire-Rescue’s deputy chief of operations, told local news outlets that there was a long debris field on Black’s Beach – a stretch of sand known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.
Boat salvager Robert Butler picks up a canister in one of one of two boats sitting on Blacks Beach after eight people died when the boat capsized last night
Two tanks of fuel and a life preservers were found in the boats that capsized
Boat salvager KC Ivers places items into one of two boats sitting on Blacks Beach
Recovery efforts continued on Sunday morning. It’s unclear how many people were on the boats and how many people made it to shore