Eight Dead After 2 Smuggler Boats Capsize Off Californian Coast - Rescuers

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2023) At least eight people died overnight after two smuggler boats overturned in the surf off the coast of San Diego County in the US state of California, rescuers said Sunday.

Lifeguards were sent to Black's Beach after a Spanish speaker called 911 around midnight on Saturday to alert the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department about people in danger, San Diego Lifeguard Chief James Gartland told reporters.

"We've lost eight souls," Gartland said, adding all were adults.

The anonymous caller said there were 15 people and eight people on two separate boats. Gartland said no survivors were found. Nationalities of those pulled dead from the water were not immediately established.

Gartland called this "one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies" in San Diego County's history. Labor and sex traffickers have been increasingly smuggling victims into the United States. Since 2021, 23 people have died off the Southern California Coast.