LOS ANGELES — Sixteen people were rescued from the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California coast on Friday after the U.S. Another 11 people were believed to be missing. Coast Guard responded to a May Day call reporting the vessel was sinking.
The vessel went down in an area frequented by smugglers transporting migrants to the U.S. but that is also popular with fishing and leisure boats. Friday. “Boats in that area can be for fishing, leisure, personal recreation. We just don’t know what they were doing out there. Amy Taxin contributed from Santa Ana, California. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
It received reports of 27 people in the water approximately 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico, after getting the distress call at about 1 a.m. In May of 2025, at least three people died when a panga flipped off the coast about 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2023, eight people were killed in one of the deadliest maritime smuggling accidents off the U.S. coast, when two boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one capsized in the surf. A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off the coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen. __ Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
No vessel, only debris, was found and it was unclear what type of boat was involved, the Coast Guard in San Diego said. By the time crews reached the area “people were holding onto each other, to debris, just treading and trying to stay above water before being rescued,” Coast Guard Lt. Santiago Tamburini said. One person rescued was being treated for a suspected shark bite and two people were in critical condition, authorities said. We all know it’s a suspected smuggling route,” Tamburini said. He added that “the sea is unforgiving” in that area, and it was unclear if the vessel got lost, had engine failure, was swept out to sea or meant to go that far. A person on the vessel transmitted the May Day call saying it was sinking, he said.
The Mexican Navy in Ensenada also launched a search and rescue operation. Those rescued were flown by helicopter to San Diego and transported to hospitals. It was not clear if that included the suspected shark bite victim or the two people with cold exposure. The Coast Guard and U.S. Navy were searching the area with two helicopters, a fixed-wing plane, a cutter and a Navy combat ship. “For the vessels that usually operate out there, they’re usually built to handle things like that. Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders. Small boats called pangas leave Baja in the dead of night and sometimes travel hundreds of miles north. There have been several incidents in recent years of migrant vessels capsizing en route to California.
One person rescued said as many as 27 people had been on board, said Petty Officer Chris Sappey. Conditions on the water at 1 a.m. Winds out of the north and northwest measured about 10 knots and waves measured 5 feet at a buoy north of Ensenada, he said. The water temperature measured 68 degrees Fahrenheit fairly warm for the Pacific and the air was 70 degrees Fahrenheit , Suk said.
Two of the people rescued were Mexican nationals, the Coast Guard said in a statement. Two patients were in critical condition, said Matt Hoffman, a spokesperson for the city of San Diego. Friday appeared to be windy but fairly typical for the area, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jonathan Suk in San Diego. “I wouldn’t want to be out there in a sea kayak,” Suk said.
Three were taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego, including the person with a suspected shark bite and two people treated for cold exposure, said hospital spokesperson Janice Collins.
