Search continues for 11 missing after boat capsizes off Baja California

The hunt for 11 people still unaccounted for after a vessel overturned off Mexico’s Baja California coast on Friday is ongoing, officials said, adding that several survivors required treatment for injuries that appear to be shark bites.

The U.S. Coast Guard released a statement on Saturday noting, “Several of the individuals rescued were suffering from severe injuries consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life‑saving first aid while en route to San Diego.”

Sixteen Mexican nationals were pulled from the water on Friday, and those rescued told authorities that the boat had been carrying a total of 27 passengers.

The Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy deployed a fleet of aircraft and boats, working alongside the Mexican Navy, to scour the scene for the remaining passengers. A second helicopter is scheduled to join the effort later on Saturday, according to the Coast Guard.

According to Coast Guard Lieutenant Santiago Tamburini, a Mayday call was sent out at about 1 a.m. on Friday. A rescue helicopter arrived roughly two hours later, and it took about ninety minutes for the crew, which included a rescue swimmer, to bring the sixteen people aboard to safety.

The capsized boat sank roughly 225 km (140 miles) west of Ensenada, an area known for fishing and leisure vessels but also frequented by smugglers. Although the incident occurred outside U.S. waters, Coast Guard official Charlie Valor explained that the agency intervened because “we were able to help, and that’s why we launched our assets.”

Authorities noted that fatal attempts to move refugees and migrants across the Mexico‑U.S. border have happened before. In May 2025, a boat overturned about 56 km (35 miles) north of the border, killing at least three people. In 2023, eight individuals lost their lives in a maritime smuggling disaster off the U.S. coast when two vessels approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one capsized in the surf.