Border Patrol believes the boat that capsized in San Diego was used to bring immigrants to the United States.

At least three people died in the tragic accident, but the Coast Guard indicates that the death toll is four. The nationality of any of them is not yet known

Photo: Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images

The Border Patrol suspects that the vessel that overturned in a rocky area of ​​Point Loma, on the San Diego coast , it was used to transfer immigrants from Mexico without authorization. To united states. The accident killed at least three people and sent another 27 to the hospital, as reported by the authorities.

“ Every indication from our perspective is that it was a smuggling vessel that was used to smuggle migrants into the United States, ”said Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Jeffery Stephenson.

Lifeguard chief James Gartland said the maritime accident was probably “one of the biggest boat accidents” the region has seen. “It’s a tragedy”, he added.

San Diego lifeguards first received a report about a ship that appeared to be in trouble about the 10 in the morning. The information the agency received was that the boat was heading to shore with a person on board , as the authorities said.

Both lifeguards and others agencies arrived at the scene minutes before 10: 30 on Saturday morning and soon realized that the size of the accident was larger than expected , as Lieutenant Rick said Romero, from the San Diego lifeguard service.

Later it was learned that it was a boat known as the panga baja de 40 feet which translated to 30 people. This information was sufficient for the Border Patrol to determine that it could be a smuggling boat , although information on ages, genders and nationalities has not yet been made public.

The waves pushed seven people including two who drowned , according to Lieutenant. Emergency crews rescued one person from a cliff and another managed to reach the shore by themselves.

“There were people in the water, drowning, being sucked into the current,” said Romero, according to Associated Press .

However, the total number of deaths is not yet clear . The Coast Guard said Sunday night in a statement that the death toll had risen to four, but the local coroner’s office listed three. Among them is a woman from 40 years, another of 35 years and a man whose age is unknown.

Total, 27 people were transferred to hospitals in very different medical conditions . Most of them walked to the ambulance, as Romero explained.

The route through the Pacific Ocean has become an alternative for human and drug trafficking to United States after the Trump Administration tightened conditions for overland crossings.

Since March 2020, immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras captured at the border are immediately expelled to Mexico without the possibility of seeking asylum . President Joe Biden . , but most adults are sent back.