4 dead, more than 20 hospitalized after suspected smuggling vessel overturns off San Diego
Four people are dead and nearly two dozen people were sent to hospitals after a suspected smuggling vessel overturned off the coast of San Diego on Sunday morning.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesperson Monica Munoz told CNN they received reports of a vessel that overturned near the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma around 10:27 a.m. (1:27 p.m. ET).
James Gartland, lifeguard chief for San Diego, told reporters it appeared the boat hit the reef, broke up and 30 people “came out of the vessel.”
“This was a mass rescue operation that turned into a mass casualty incident,” Gartland said.
By Bill Galluccio
May 3, 2021
The captain of a suspected human smuggling boat was taken into custody after the vessel overturned off the coast of San Diego on Sunday (May 2). Officials said there 29 people crammed inside the 40-foot cabin cruiser when it struck a reef near the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma.
The boat was damaged in the collision and battered with waves of up to six feet, causing it to break apart. The boat was on the reef, bouncing back and forth, and then slowly disintegrated into a bunch of pieces, Lifeguard Lt.
Four people died in the accident, and one person remains hospitalized in critical condition. The other 24 people on the boat survived, though they sustained injuries, including hypothermia and cuts and bruises from pieces of the ship. Officials said they pulled six survivors from the water while the others managed to swim to shore.
By Bill Galluccio
May 3, 2021
The captain of a suspected human smuggling boat was taken into custody after the vessel overturned off the coast of San Diego on Sunday (May 2). Officials said there 29 people crammed inside the 40-foot cabin cruiser when it struck a reef near the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma.
The boat was damaged in the collision and battered with waves of up to six feet, causing it to break apart. The boat was on the reef, bouncing back and forth, and then slowly disintegrated into a bunch of pieces, Lifeguard Lt.
Four people died in the accident, and one person remains hospitalized in critical condition. The other 24 people on the boat survived, though they sustained injuries, including hypothermia and cuts and bruises from pieces of the ship. Officials said they pulled six survivors from the water while the others managed to swim to shore.