At least seven of the eight people who died when two boats capsized in shallow but turbulent waters off the coast of San Diego were Mexican immigrants, Mexican officials said Monday.
The preliminary identification was based on records found with the bodies of the people when they were recovered, the Mexican consulate in San Diego said in a news release. The nationality of the eighth person was unknown.
The consulate did not provide ages, sexes or other information about the people killed in one of the most lethal maritime migrant smuggling operations off US waters. Rescue authorities have said they were all adults.
A Spanish-speaking woman who called 911 said she was among eight people on a boat that washed ashore and 15 people were on another boat that capsized. Authorities found two capsized boats in shallow water in thick fog Saturday night.
The Coast Guard suspended its search for wreckage on Sunday. Survivors may have fled overland, including the woman who called 911. Authorities did not know her whereabouts.
The Border Patrol reports hundreds of known smuggling attempts each year off the California coast. Carlos González Gutiérrez, Mexico’s consul general in San Diego, warned Monday against the dangerous journey.
“People planning to cross the border into the United States, whether by land or sea, should know that human smugglers will take advantage of their need to obtain illicit money, distorting reality, creating false expectations, and exposing them to situations of high risk. conditions in which they can lose their lives,” he said.