SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The Consulate of Mexico in San Diego said it's working to identify the migrants who died in a panga boat that capsized near Black's Beach in La Jolla late Saturday night.
During a Sunday morning news conference, city of San Diego Lifeguard Chief James Garland said an unidentified Spanish speaking woman reported she was on a panga boat with eight people that washed ashore Black's Beach.
The woman also said another panga boat carrying about 8 to 10 people capsized, sending everyone into the water.
"We lost eight souls," Garland said.
The search was suspended Sunday around 4 p.m., according to Coast Guard spokesman Adam Stanton.
It's presumed that seven of them were Mexican based on the identifications found on the victims, according to authorities. Once the coroner's office confirms the information, they will notify their relatives.
The Consul General of Mexico in San Diego, Carlos González Gutiérrez, thanked the U.S. Coast Guard for their search and rescue efforts.
"People planning to cross the border into the United States, either by land or sea, should know that human smugglers will take advantage of their need in order to obtain illicit money, distorting reality, creating false expectations, and exposing them to high-risk conditions where they may lose their lives," said Gutiérrez.
Those who want to obtain information about missing relatives can call the Consulate's emergency line at 619-843-6399, write to email proteccion@consulmexsd.org, or contact the Center for Information and Attention to Mexicans (CIAM by its acronym in Spanish) in the U.S.: 520-623-7874.
