11 Missing After Boat Capsizes Off Baja California, Survivors Suffer Shark Bites

Eleven people were still missing on Sunday, October 18, after a boat carrying 27 people capsized in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California, Mexico. The US Coast Guard said the search was still going on Sunday, with help from the US Navy and the Mexican Navy. Sixteen people were pulled from the water on Friday, and several of them had severe injuries that the Coast Guard said were consistent with shark bites.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego received a radio distress call at about 1 a.m. local time on Friday, October 16. The vessel was taking on water about 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico, and had departed from Mexico. Reports passed to the Coast Guard indicated that 27 people may have been on board.

Ninety minutes in the water

Crews from Coast Guard Air Station Ventura and Air Station Sacramento went out after the call, along with the Coast Guard cutter Active. The Navy sent the USS Kingsville and a helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23. Lt. Santiago Tamburini of the Coast Guard told CBC that pulling the 16 people from the water took about 90 minutes. People in the water were holding on to each other and to debris, treading water and trying to stay above the surface, he said. Search crews later found debris and floating seats believed to come from the vessel.

Coast Guard crews gave first aid during the trip back to San Diego, where all 16 were handed to emergency medical crews and taken to local hospitals. Brian Raines, an assistant fire chief with San Diego Fire-Rescue, told NBC 7 San Diego that about 60 fire and medical workers responded, and that 13 ambulances carried victims to hospitals. CBC reported that two of the survivors were in critical condition. On Sunday the Coast Guard said it had no updated information on the survivors' medical conditions. The Mexican consulate in San Diego told the Associated Press that all of the rescued are Mexican nationals. Customs and Border Protection officers are interviewing the survivors, the Coast Guard said.

What is not yet known

The boat went down outside US waters, in an area the Coast Guard said is often used by smugglers and is also used by fishing and leisure boats. CBC reported that where the vessel came from and where it was headed were not immediately known. Tamburini said crews could not yet confirm whether the vessel was part of a smuggling run or was a recreational or commercial fishing boat.

Capt. Robert Tucker, who commands Coast Guard Sector San Diego, said the case shows the extreme dangers of taking to the sea. The vessel had a large number of people on board and was following a route normally used in illegal maritime smuggling operations, he said, and offshore conditions can quickly result in death.

A route with a deadly record

Boats carrying migrants toward the California coast have capsized before. In May 2025, a panga style vessel capsized in heavy surf near Del Mar, north of San Diego, and killed at least four people, among them a 14 year old boy from India. His 10 year old sister was presumed dead after she disappeared. In March 2023, eight people died after two suspected smuggling boats came toward a San Diego beach in heavy fog and rough surf.

As of Sunday, October 18, the Coast Guard said no additional people had been found. The search continued.