One of two boats carrying migrants from Mexico crashed in Black’s Beach off San Diego, California, on Saturday evening, killing eight persons. According to the San Diego Police Department, a woman in one of the boats called 911 to report that the other boat capsized and that the victims were in the water.
The woman called shortly after 11:30 p.m. to report that eight people were in the boat she was in and that it made it safely to the shore from Mexico. She stated that about 9-10 people were in the water after the second boat crashed. San Diego Fire-Rescue’s deputy chief of operations, Daniel Eddy, said the high tide and thick fog made it impossible for his men to attempt rescue operations overnight.
“We couldn’t get any helicopters up,” Eddy stated. “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.”
When lifeguards were eventually able to wade through deep water up to their waist, they were able to make out eight bodies that were taken to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office. Several agencies responded to the alert – the police, the fire rescue department, the US Coast Guard, and the US Customs and Border Protection.
The San Diego Lifeguards continue to search the waters for more bodies, with help from the Air and Marine Operations unit of the CBP. Black’s Beach where the incident happened is one of the largest and most frequented nude beaches in the United States. It is a secluded nude beach where people play in the sands, sunbathe, and ride in the dangerous surf swells that characterize the beach.
