Daijiworld Media Network - San Diego
San Diego, Nov 16: At least four migrants died and four others were hospitalized after a wooden skiff capsized in stormy seas near San Diego late Friday, the US Coast Guard said on Saturday. The vessel, believed to have been ferrying migrants toward the United States, overturned amid rough weather conditions triggered by a strong storm system hitting Southern California.
US Border Patrol officials discovered the boat in the surf off Imperial Beach shortly before midnight. Six people were found on the shore — one declared dead at the scene and another pulled out from beneath the overturned vessel and rescued.
Around two hours later, authorities received reports of a person struggling in the water near Imperial Beach Pier. A Coast Guard crew located three individuals in the ocean — all of them dead. Search operations for additional passengers continue.
Some survivors claimed Mexican nationality, while others remain unidentified. One person has been handed over to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This case demonstrates the severe risks posed to aliens attempting to enter the United States by sea in unstable vessels,” said Coast Guard Sector San Diego Commander Capt. Robert Tucker.
The skiff was identified as a panga — a type of open fishing boat often used by smugglers. Migrants increasingly rely on such dangerous sea routes to bypass heavily guarded land borders, especially along California’s coastline.
The tragedy adds to a series of fatal maritime smuggling incidents in recent years. In May, three people died after a panga flipped 35 miles north of the US-Mexico border. In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog, with one capsizing in the surf — among the deadliest such incidents in US waters.
In 2022, a San Diego man received an 18-year prison sentence for piloting a vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that broke apart in powerful surf, killing three and injuring more than two dozen.
Globally, migrant deaths are rising sharply. Nearly 9,000 people lost their lives attempting to cross borders last year, according to the UN migration agency — marking the fifth consecutive record-breaking year. The UN’s Missing Migrants Project estimates that over 24,506 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean between 2014 and 2024, though the actual number may be higher due to unreported cases.