12 March 2023 , 14:54
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At least eight people have died after two suspected smuggler panga boats crashed near Blacks Beach in San Diego County, California, on Saturday night.
At least one of the two boats capsised after the crash, it was reported.
Thick fog initially hampered search efforts, but the Coast Guard, San Diego Fire-Rescue, and lifeguards were expected to conduct a joint search for additional victims on Sunday morning.
The stretch of sand, jointly owned by the city of San Diego and the state, is also known as Torrey Pines City Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach.
A woman who had arrived from Mexico via boat alerted police to the incident, reporting that one of the boats had overturned and that nine or ten people might be in the water.
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At least eight people have died after two panga boats crashed near Blacks Beach (ABC 10News)A Border Patrol spokesman had no information about the incident and said he did not know of anyone detained from the scene, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
The police responded, and the Border Patrol was notified.
Daniel Eddy, San Diego Fire-Rescue's deputy chief of operations, told OnScene TV: “We couldn’t get any helicopters up.
"We had boats in the water, but at first light, once all the conditions clear, we will have Coast Guard out here and San Diego Fire-Rescue and lifeguards doing a joint search through the water for any possible victims that are left.
"I don't know how many people came to shore or how many victims we have found because it keeps changing on us.
"We tried to launch helicopters both from San Diego Fire and Coast Guard but due to the conditions, they couldn't get up.
"Coast Guard finally got up with their copter but due to the conditions of the fog in the area, it was hard for their (forward-looking thermal imaging cameras) to get through to see anything in the water.
"We are hoping at first light we will have better conditions to get everybody out there."
ABC News correspondent Alex Stone reported that "bodies [were] found floating in the water when rescue teams arrived", adding that a search operation for more possible victims is ongoing.
The first lifeguards on the scene found seven deceased bodies, and an additional body was found by CBP Air and Marine Operations officers, the fire department told ABC.
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Coast Guard Petty Officer Eddie Berrios confirmed eight people died and teams were searching for at least seven more.
He didn’t know what kind of boats they were but said pangas - small open boats with outboard engines used in smuggling operations - often come ashore there.
Brahm didn't know if anyone on the second boat was injured or whether they were apprehended by Border Patrol.
It was unclear if any arrests were made and the nationalities of the passengers were unknown.
Illegal crossings have soared under President Joe Biden, with many migrants turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents and being released in the United States to pursue their cases in immigration court.
A pandemic rule scheduled to end May 11 denies migrants a chance to seek asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19 but enforcement has fallen disproportionately on Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans and El Salvadorans because those have been the only nationalities that Mexico agreed to take back.
As a result, people of those four countries have been more likely to try to elude capture, knowing they are likely to be expelled under the public health rule, known as Title 42 authority.
Mexico recently began taking back Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans under Title 42.
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