Four dead after small Panga boat capsizes off the coast of San Diego

SAN DIEGO (NBC, KYMA) - Four people are dead after their small boat capsized early Saturday morning just off the coast of San Diego as it crossed into the U.S. from Mexican waters.

U.S. officials say the boat, carrying multiple people, flipped over in rough seas near Imperial Beach Pier, killing four.

Authorities say at least five others were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The boat was seen crashing in the surf just below homes along the coastline.

Authorities say the boat included some passengers believed to have been transported from Mexico by human smugglers.

Ed Winchester, a resident of Imperial Beach, had this to say about the incident:

"It's a tragedy of living close to the border. I haven't seen a lot of this, but when you look at the boat, you can see that it was made to be harder to see, low light conditions. They've taken a lot of top structure off the boat.

My heart goes out to the families, the loss here and especially into other places along the southern border where they're making the trek and the loss in the desert and temperature extremes that you see there. My heart goes out to those folks.

This is an example of people trying to move around the system. You know, and, unfortunately, some people with cartels have made a lot of money transporting people across the border. And this is just another example of that."

An investigation is underway.