Boat carrying 27 sinks near Ensenada along known smuggling route

LATEST Oct. 16, 12:15 p.m.Two people out of the 16 saved in a major rescue off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, near San Diego are in critical condition, Matt Hoffman, a spokesperson for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, told SFGATE. 

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Hoffman did not have the ages of the people who were rescued as of late Friday morning. According to a Friday news release from the U.S. Coast Guard, two of the people were confirmed to be from Mexico.

Search and rescue efforts are still underway with crews from the Air Station Ventura and Air Station Sacramento and a U.S. Navy helicopter and ship. Search crews have found debris from the vessel, according to the coast guard. 

Early reports from local news outlets said fire officials believe the vessel may have been linked to a human smuggling operation, but Hoffman said the department had not confirmed that. The vessel was “following a route normally used in illegal maritime smuggling operations,” Coast Guard Sector San Diego commander Capt. Robert Tucker said in the news release.

“This case highlights the extreme dangers of taking to the sea,” said Tucker, warning, “Offshore conditions … can quickly result in death.”

Oct. 16, 9:30 a.m. The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a large rescue operation after a boat carrying 27 people sank overnight off the coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, about 69 miles southwest of San Clemente in Orange County. 

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Coast Guard Petty Officer Charlie Valor told SFGATE the distress call for the sinking vessel came in at 1 a.m. and rescue crews were dispatched immediately. But by the time the Coast Guard arrived on the scene, the vessel had already sunk, leaving passengers in the water in the open ocean west of popular beach town Ensenada, Mexico. 

Valor said 16 people have been saved during the ongoing “mass rescue” operation. Currently, multiple air and sea craft from the Coast Guard, the Navy and other local jurisdictions remain in the area, searching for survivors. At this time, it’s not known whether the vessel originated from the U.S. or Mexico.

The rescued individuals were taken to the Coast Guard sector in San Diego, where emergency medical teams transported them to local hospitals. At this point, no deaths or injuries have been confirmed. 

This is a developing story.