3 dead, dozens hurt after suspected smuggling boat capsizes off San Diego coast

Debris floats off Point Loma after a suspected smuggling boat capsized.
(Image credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

A suspected smuggling boat capsized on Sunday morning off the San Diego coast, breaking apart after it hit a reef near the Cabrillo National Monument, officials said.

At least three people on the boat died and 27 have been hospitalized with "varying degrees of injuries," Jose Ysea, a spokesperson for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, told the Los Angeles Times. Lifeguards who spotted the boat and raced to help initially thought only one person was on board, the Times reports, but as the vessel — described as a 40-foot cabin cruiser — started to break apart, dozens of people emerged and began jumping into the water.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.