Three dead, two dozen hospitalized after vessel overturns off San Diego

Three people are dead and more than two dozen people were taken to hospitals after a suspected smuggling vessel overturned near San Diego on Sunday, according to area officials. 

Rick Romero, a lifeguard lieutenant with San Diego Fire-Rescue, told reporters during a press conference that officials received a call Sunday morning that the boat appeared to be in trouble. He said that officials found it “basically broken apart,” with some people in the water and others on shore. 

A total of 27 people were taken to area hospitals. Romero said the victims’ injuries range from hypothermia to other injuries caused “by the breaking of the vessel.” 

Jeff Stephenson, a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the San Diego sector, told reporters Sunday that “every indication from our perspective is that this was a smuggling vessel.”

Officials have not confirmed the nationalities of the people involved in the incident. 

Stephenson said agents are with a man who officials believe was the operator of the boat and a suspected smuggler.

Some of the people taken to hospitals are “non-emergent,” San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesperson Mónica Muñoz told CNN. However, three people are considered to be in “somewhat to very urgent status.”

Several emergency groups are assisting with the victims, including the Coast Guard and other agencies. 

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed to The Hill that the incident took place in federal water jurisdiction. 

Officials did not immediately confirm the cause of the overturning. 

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on Sunday tweeted “I ask San Diegans to keep the boat’s passengers in your prayers.” 

Our City’s firefighters, lifeguards, and police are assisting ⁦@USCG⁩ and ⁦@PortSDHPD⁩ in this rescue effort. Federal officials will be updating the public later today. I ask San Diegans to keep the boat’s passengers in your prayers. https://t.co/d1csffpkxE

— Todd Gloria (@ToddGloria) May 2, 2021

Updated at 7:23 p.m.