One person died and a second was hospitalized after a suspected smuggling boat carrying seven people capsized in unusually high surf and cold weather off the coast of Imperial Beach early Monday, authorities said. Border Patrol, Coast Guard and Air and Marine Operations officers responded and found seven people on the beach, including two who needed medical attention. The two were taken to a hospital, where a 62-year-old Mexican national was pronounced dead. “We are saddened by the loss of life,” Aaron Heitke, the Border Patrol’s chief patrol agent in the San Diego sector, said in a statement. “Any loss of life is both tragic and unacceptable, particularly because it was avoidable.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 03, 2020 23:48 UTC