The search for survivors from a capsized lift boat in the Gulf of Mexico has closed and attention now turns to comforting the loved ones of the five known dead and eight missing, a grim hunt for bodies and a painstaking investigation that could take up to two years.
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.
4 dead, 25 hospitalized after boat overturns off San Diego coast
Witness photo
and last updated 2021-05-03 09:40:17-04
Four people are dead and several others are injured after a vessel overturned in the waters off Point Loma Sunday morning, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue.
The department reports rescue efforts began being staged near the 200 block of Catalina Boulevard around 10:30 a.m.
The boat was possibly being used to transport undocumented people into the United States, according to Jeffery Stephenson of the Customs and Border Protection Public Affairs Office.
Eyewitness video shot by a bystander who watched from shore shows several people jumping from the boat into rough waters and others struggling to swim to land. The 40-foot boat quickly breaks up in the 5- to 6-feet of surf creating a large swath of debris. Some of the passengers can be seen standing in waist-deep water searching through debris for some of the other passengers.
4 Dead, Dozens Injured After Suspected Smuggling Boat Capsizes Near San Diego
at 1:57 pm NPR
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.
Updated May 3, 2021 at 1:38 AM ET
The Coast Guard says it will continue to search the waters off the coast of San Diego throughout the night.
By Juwan Armstrong
May 3, 2021
At lease four people were killed and more had two dozen others were hospitalized after a boat overturned and broke apart off the coast of Point Loma Sunday morning during a suspected a smuggling operation, authorities said.
The accident happened in the water just west Cabrillo National Monument around 10 a.m. Last Night the Coast Guard released a statement a statement with information stating there were 29 people accounted for from the vessel, including 25 survivors, and four people declared by first responders. One of the survivors was also reported to be in critical condition.
Border Patrol officials said the boat was suspected of being part of smuggling operation