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Federal authorities on Monday charged a man accused of being the captain of a boat carrying migrants that capsized near San DiegoFour passengers died.
man, a mexican National was charged with two counts of bringing people into the country illegally.
U.S. Border Patrol agents received a report of a small boat crossing the international border at about 11:30 p.m. Friday. Mexico and America
Border Patrol found a wooden boat capsized in high waves near Imperial Beach. Just before midnight six people were found on the beach, one of whom was pronounced dead and another was rescued after being found under a boat.
About two hours later, officers received a report of someone in the water near the Imperial Beach Pier. The Coast Guard responded and found three people in the sea, all dead.
The five survivors were taken to hospital for treatment.
According to the complaint, many passengers said that there was a problem with the boat’s engine. They urged the captain to return to Mexico, but he refused.
The complaint said that when the boat capsized, one person got trapped in the cabin below deck and several other people along with him drowned in the water. He was freed after Border Patrol agents capsized the boat. Another person was injured when he became trapped under the boat and a piece of metal entered his leg, the complaint said.
If found guilty, the suspected captain could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.
“Maritime trafficking is extremely dangerous and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law each individual responsible for these preventable tragedies,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a press release.
Another man was a passenger on the boat and was charged with being deported and attempting to re-enter the US illegally. He was first deported from the US in 2012 and most recently on November 3 this year.
Migrants are increasingly turning to the riskier alternative of traveling by sea through smugglers to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off the California coast. The ships leave Mexico in the dark of night and head north, sometimes hundreds of miles (kilometres).
In recent years there have been several incidents of migrant ships capsizing en route California,