Search continues for 11 people missing after boat capsized off Mexico’s Baja coast | News on the US-Mexico border

Some of the 16 survivors were treated for suspected shark bites, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The search continues for 11 people still missing after a boat capsized Friday off Mexico’s Baja California coast, while several survivors were treated for suspected shark bites, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Several of those rescued suffered serious injuries from shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided first aid while en route to San Diego,” the Coast Guard said in a statement Saturday.

Sixteen Mexican nationals were rescued Friday. Survivors told authorities there were 27 people on board.

The Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy used several planes and boats, with assistance from the Mexican Navy, to search the area for remaining passengers. An additional helicopter will be deployed later Saturday, according to the Coast Guard.

A Mayday call came from someone on the boat around 1 a.m. Friday, Coast Guard Lt. Santiago Tamburini said that day.

A rescue helicopter arrived on scene approximately two hours later. It took the crew, which included a rescue swimmer, about 90 minutes to get all 16 people out of the water, he added.

The boat sank about 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico, an area popular with fishing and recreational boats, but also frequented by smugglers.

Although the incident did not occur in U.S. waters, Coast Guard official Charlie Valor said Saturday that they “were able to help, and that’s why we launched our assets.”

Deadly attempts to transport refugees and migrants from Mexico to the United States have occurred in the past.

In May 2025, at least three people died when a boat overturned off the coast, about 56 km (35 miles) north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

In 2023, eight people were killed in one of the deadliest maritime smuggling accidents off the US coast, when two boats approached a San Diego beach in thick fog, and one capsized in the surf.