SAN DIEGO (TNND) — Five Mexican nationals were charged after a small boat carrying more than a dozen migrants capsized off the coast of San Diego, killing at least three people, including a 14-year-old boy from India, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of California.

Witnesses described seeing an overturned panga boat at a beach in Del Mar on Monday, according to court records. Bystanders and San Diego lifeguards participated in search efforts.

Prosecutors confirmed the boy's parents and two others were hospitalized following the human smuggling event. Nine other migrants were initially missing from the boat and presumed dead, but eight were later located by Border Patrol agents in Chula Vista. A 10-year-old Indian girl, the boy's sister, is still missing.

“The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said.

There were originally 16 people on board the boat, according to Border Patrol.

Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva were arrested at the beach on Monday and charged with bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Three other suspects, Melissa Jenelle Cota, Gustavo Lara and Sergio Rojas-Fregosa, were arrested late Monday when agents in Chula Vista recognized a vehicle seen at the beach in Del Mar, according to prosecutors.

Cota, Lara and Rojas-Fregoso were charged with transportation of illegal aliens. Prosecutors added Rojas-Fregoso had previously been deported on Dec. 19, 2023.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that she will request the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty.

"Their deaths were not only avoidable but were also the direct result of the greed and indifference of smugglers who exploited them. Maritime smuggling is not just illegal—it is a violent and inherently dangerous crime," Noem said. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, alien smuggling acts that result in death are capital crimes punishable by death. And under the Federal Death Penalty Act, those who intentionally participate in conduct knowing that it could result in the loss of life may be eligible for capital punishment."

Authorities previously said it is not clear where the boat was coming from before it flipped.