U.S. authorities said that at least three people, including two children were dead and nine others missing after a small vessel capsized on rough seas north of San Diego in what appeared to be a migrant smuggling effort.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that four other people were taken to hospital after the open "panga-style" fishing boat washed up near Torrey Pines State Beach.

Chief Petty Officer Levi Read, a Coast Guard spokesperson, confirmed that a Coast Guard cutter, emergency response boat, and helicopter are all involved in the ongoing search for nine people still unaccounted for.

He stated that two children are believed to be missing.

Read stated that at least some of those aboard the boat were from India. A number of Indian passports had been found near the spot where the panga washed ashore.

Shawn Gibson is a Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agency (HSI), said that the incident is a "stark reminding of the dangers posed to maritime smuggling."

Gibson stated that the ruthless smuggling was not only illegal but also deadly. The incident occurred approximately 30 miles north of U.S. Mexico border. Read reported that the ocean conditions were rough off the coast of San Diego County at the time. Seven-foot (2 m), seas were reported.

Officials said that personnel from HSI and the U.S. Border Patrol as well as the local fire department, law enforcement, and the local government also responded.

Read stated that the Coast Guard had tracked 277 boats clandestinely entering U.S. water from Mexico since October 2024 in the San Diego region. Some of the vessels were intercepted and others escaped. These incidents led to 983 arrests.

In the same area, 561 people were arrested in the 12 months prior for 1,354 incidents of maritime border crossing.

According to a city statement, of the four survivors who survived the panga capsize on Thursday, one was in critical condition at the time they were rescued.

The statement stated that one survivor reported 18 people were aboard the vessel and 18 life jackets were found on the shore. Read, however, said that the Coast Guard believed the boat had only 16 people aboard when it capsized. Reporting by Karen Freifeld, New York. Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Kristina Coates, Jorge Garcia, and Frank McGurty. Editing by Frank McGurty and Mark Porter.

(source: Reuters)