Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. May 3, 2021
Four people were killed and more than two dozen injured on Sunday when a boat suspected of attempting to smuggle migrants into California broke apart off Cabrillo National Monument at San Diego s rugged Point Loma, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The initial call arrived just before 10 a.m. (1700 GMT) and prompted a large emergency response, including the U.S. Coast Guard and state and local agencies, as the magnitude of the incident became clear.
The 40-foot (12-m) cabin cruiser had been pummeled to pieces by the surf by the time rescue boats arrived, said Rick Romero, lifeguard lieutenant for San Diego Fire-Rescue.
Denis Poroy / AP
Updated May 3, 2021 at 1:38 AM ET
Four people are dead and dozens injured after a suspected human smuggling boat capsized and split into pieces off the coast of San Diego Sunday. Twenty-nine people have reportedly been accounted for, consisting of twenty-four people alive, four people declared deceased by local emergency medical services personnel and one person who was last reported to be in critical condition, according to the U.S. Coast Guard statement that was issued shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET Sunday.
The Coast Guard says it will continue to search the waters off the coast of San Diego throughout the night.
People in the water drowning : Days after smuggling crackdown, at least 3 die, dozens hurt when boat capsizes off San Diego John Bacon, USA TODAY
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A suspected smuggling operation that resulted in at least three deaths off the San Diego coast came after the Border Patrol, Coast Guard and other agencies warned that an alarming increase in maritime smuggling could have deadly consequences.
The agencies announced Friday that they were dedicating extra resources to coastal land, sea and air patrols – helicopters and planes – through Monday. Those resources were tapped Sunday when an overloaded cabin cruiser broke apart in rough seas, prompting a harrowing rescue operation near the Cabrillo National Monument.
3 killed after suspected migrant boat capsizes off San Diego
Items from a boat sit on the shoreline at Cabrillo National Monument near where it capsized just off the San Diego coast Sunday, May 2, 2021, in San Diego. Photo: AP AP, San Diego AP, San Diego
Three people were killed and more than two dozen others were hospitalized Sunday after a boat capsized and broke apart in rough water just off the San Diego coast during a suspected human smuggling operation, authorities said.
Lifeguards, the US Coast Guard and other agencies responded around 10am following reports of an overturned vessel in the waves near the rugged peninsula of Point Loma, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Boat possibly used for human smuggling capsizes off San Diego: 3 dead, 27 injured
Updated 6:23 AM;
Today 6:21 AM
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over boats searching the area where a boat capsized just off the San Diego coast Sunday, May 2, 2021, in San Diego.AP Photo/Denis Poroy
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A packed boat being used in a suspected human smuggling operation capsized Sunday and broke apart in powerful surf along the rocky San Diego coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen others, authorities said.
Lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies responded around 10:30 a.m. following reports of an overturned vessel in the waves near the rugged peninsula of Point Loma, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.