SAN DIEGO, May 6, (AP): A small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized early Monday off San Diego's coast and left three people dead and four injured, while US Coast Guard crews were searching for seven others, officials said. Initially nine people were reported missing but later two were found and detained, US Coast Guard Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said. He did not know which agency detained the individuals or why.

The US Border Patrol did not immediately respond to an email asking if they were involved. USCoast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey said it was unclear where the boat was coming from before it flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of the Mexico border. He described the vessel as a panga, single or twin-engine open fishing boats commonly used by smugglers.

"They were not tourists,” Sappey said. "They are believed to be migrants.” Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California's coast. Pangas leave the Mexican coast in the dead of night, sometimes charting hundreds of miles north. The four injured people were taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, the hospital said in an email.

All were being treated for respiratory related issues after arriving by ambulance. Three were in their 30s and one was a teen. No other details were provided. The Coast Guard deployed a helicopter and boat to search for the missing. Hikers and others at Torrey Pines State Beach reported seeing a boat capsize near the shore at about 6:30 a.m., said Lt. Nick Backouris of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

"A doctor hiking nearby called in and said, ‘I see people doing CPR on the beach, I’m running that way,'” Backouris said. Winds were light in the area, with slow-rolling waves reaching about 6 feet (1.8 meters), according to Sebastian Westerink, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego. The water temperature was 63 degrees (17 Celsius), he said.

A bulldozer moved the panga on the beach as the search was underway. The wooden skiff that was over 20 feet long (6 meters) had scuffed blue paint and wooden planks for seats. Inside the boat were a pair of running shoes, more than a dozen life vests, an empty waterproof cell phone bag and various water bottles. Its engine was visibly damaged. In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog. One boat capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling cases in waters off the US coast.