California: Three dead and seven missing after a boat overturned

The Coast Guard reported that three people died and seven others remain missing, including two children, after a wooden boat overturned in front of the California coast. Four crew members were rescued alive and taken to a hospital by a boat and helicopter that came to the rescue north of San Diego. The search for survivors was finally suspended suspended at midnight.

The Coast Guard was alerted that a vessel was in trouble near Del Mar Township on the west coast of the United States at about 6:30 a.m. Pacific Coast, said Hunter Schnabel, a spokesman for the department. "Three people were located and were found to be deceased," he said.

According to interviews conducted with survivors of the incident, seven of the people aboard the boat were missing, two of whom are children, Schnabel said.

Extensive deployment in search for survivors

The search involved an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station San Diego, a 45-foot response craft from Station San Diego, a C-27 Spartan aircraft from Air Station Sacramento and the Sea Otter to assist in the search for the missing persons.

The spokesman, who gave no information on the vessel's point of origin or destination, said that "some people are suspected to be of Indian nationality." Schnabel added that it was a panga, a wooden fishing boat with a high bow that has also been used to smuggle immigrants illegally from Mexico.

Finally, authorities ordered an end to the search after "almost 28 hours (combined between rescue teams) , covering more than 520 square nautical miles."