Three men identified after deaths in panga boat accident near Imperial Beach

Dante Ulanday - News Moderator Dante Ulanday - News Moderator
Nov 18, 2025 - 21:02
Three men identified after deaths in panga boat accident near Imperial Beach
A small blue boat lies on the sand with the sea behind it. The panga boat capsized, killing four.
A small blue boat lies on the sand with the sea behind it. The panga boat capsized, killing four.
The vessel that capsized off the coast of Imperial Beach, Nov. 14, 2025. The Coast Guard launched rescue crews from Sector San Diego, Air Station San Diego, Maritime Safety and Security Team Honolulu and Cutter Petrel. (File photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)

Authorities on Tuesday released the names of three of the four people who died in a panga boat accident in South County during an alleged smuggling operation.

The bodies of Bartolo Baltazar Baltazar and Luis Mazariegos De Leon, both 48, and Hector Gomez Lopez, 50, were discovered and brought ashore around 4 a.m. Saturday, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The boat the men had been traveling in is believed to have capsized off of Imperial Beach sometime Friday. Each victim was found in the water unresponsive and pronounced dead.

De Leon drowned, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not release causes of death for the other two men.

The Border Patrol said Saturday that four people died, and five others were injured, when their boat overturned in stormy waters Friday. Investigators called the ill-fated trip a “maritime smuggling event.”

One body was located near where the boat capsized, authorities said, while three more were recovered near the IB pier.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, which took part in the rescue and recovery, several of the survivors claimed Mexican nationality, but the others’ countries of origin were unclear.

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