SAN DIEGO — Multiple people were found deceased after the boat they were in capsized late Saturday night, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Some of the victims were pulled to dry sand from knee-deep water at Black's Beach. The US Coast Guard and lifeguards were in recovery mode early Sunday.
There were two boats involved. According to a 10 a.m. press conference Sunday, eight people died and both boats were capsized and were in the shoreline, when authorities arrived. There were in shore rip currents and sand bars in that area of the beach, which is considered a dangerous area even in clear conditions. Saturday night fog hampered some of the search efforts, such as aerial support. It is unknown at this time what caused the boats to capsize.
During Sunday’s press conference, authorities said a Spanish speaker contacted the dispatch of SDPD around midnight and reported there were 15 people on one boat and eight on the other boat.
The first SDFD Lifeguard unit to arrive on scene could not access the beach at first, because of the high tide. Crews then headed north on foot wading through knee to waist deep water. After a couple hundred yards, lifeguards on the beach reached dry sand and then began to find lifeless bodies and two overturned pangas spread over an area of about 400 yards and several lifejackets and fuel barrels were also found, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
At the start of Sunday’s press conference, the issue of human trafficking was addressed:
“Since 2017, we had 771% increase in human trafficking in the Southern California coastal region. Since 2021, we’ve had 23 lives lost at sea. This is not necessarily people trying to find a better life. This is part of a transnational, criminal organization effort to smuggle people into United States. These people are often labor trafficked and sex trafficked when they arrive,” said Captain James Spitler with Coast Guard San Diego.
The agencies involved in the emergency response include SDFD, SDPD, Customs Border Protection, US Coast Guard, State Lifeguards, UCSD Police, and SDFD Lifeguards.
WATCH | Full news conference - March 12