1 dead, 8 hospitalized as boat swamped in suspected migrant smuggling attempt off San Diego coast

One person has died and eight people were hospitalized after a suspected human smuggling attempt led to a water rescue off the coast of San Diego, authorities said.

One person has died and eight people were hospitalized after a suspected migrant smuggling attempt led to a water rescue off the coast of San Diego, authorities said. A U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted a panga-style vessel with several people on board traveling north near Point Loma shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday, U.S. Border Patrol said in a statement. Agents then spotted several people who had disembarked the boat in distress in the water near the Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla. Responding lifeguards from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division rescued 10 people "in rough water conditions," the San Diego Fire Department said in a statement. Some were wearing life vests, it said. Eight of those rescued were brought to four local hospitals. The department did not know their condition due to privacy laws, it said.