A wooden boat suspected to have been ferrying migrants toward the United States capsized in this week's storm near San Diego, leaving at least four dead and four hospitalized, the Coast Guard announced Saturday. 

The vessel was found by the US Border Patrol in the surf off Imperial Beach late Friday night (the southern end of San Diego). Six people were found on the beach shortly before midnight - one of whom was pronounced dead, and another who was rescued from underneath the boat.

Around two hours later, authorities received a report of someone in the water near Imperial Beach Pier - to which the Coast Guard responded and found three dead bodies floating in the ocean. 

On Saturday the Coast Guard said it would continue to search for others who may have been on board, Several of the survivors claimed Mexican nationality and were turned over to DHS, while others remained unidentified.

"Our crews and partner agencies responded immediately, but this case demonstrates the severe risks posed to aliens attempting to enter the United States by sea in unstable vessels," said Coast Guard Capt. Robert Tucker, Sector San Diego commander. 

A massive storm hit Southern California this weekend - prompting flash flood and mudslide warnings, while the wrecked vessel was a tiny panga - a single or twin engine open fishing boat that's commonly used by smugglers. 

Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California’s coast. Pangas leave Mexico in the dead of night and sometimes chart hundreds of miles north.

There have been several incidents in recent years of migrant vessels capsizing en route to California.

In May, at least three people died when a panga flipped off the coast about 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. -AP

In 2023, eight people were killed when similar smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one capsized in the surf - one of the deadliest smuggling incidents on record. 

In 2022, a San Diego man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for piloting a smuggling boat loaded with 32 migrants, which smashed apart in powerful surf off the coast killing three and injuring over two dozen.