Eight people died in the sinking of two small “contraband” boats overnight from Saturday to Sunday off the city of San Diego, California, local authorities announced.
“This is one of the worst maritime smuggling tragedies in California that I know of,” James Gartland, a San Diego emergency services official, said Sunday, apparently referring to migration flows between Mexico and the United States.
The 8 victims are of legal age, he added during a press conference, without disclosing their nationalities.
A Spanish-speaking person called for help around 11:30 p.m. local time Saturday, saying there were 15 people on one boat and eight on the other. Once there, they found that “two boats had capsized,” James Gartland said.
Migrants, a political puzzle for Joe Biden
Rescuers “found no survivors” during their operations, but people were able to make it to shore and “leave the beach,” James Gartland said.
The area where the boats were located “is very dangerous, even in broad daylight,” with strong currents, he estimated. The city of San Diego is very close to the US-Mexico border.
Many immigrants cross it illegally, an issue that has become a political headache for the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden. Immigrants, who want to escape poverty or violence in their home countries, often take enormous risks to enter US soil.
Source: BFM TV
