US OFFICIALS have filed charges against five people in connection with a boat capsize earlier this week off San Diego’s Pacific coast, killing three migrants.

The small open-air fishing boat, known as a panga, capsized earlier this week in rough waters along the Pacific coast. 

Among the dead was a 14-year-old boy from India. His 10-year-old sister is presumed dead after disappearing in the water, the US Attorney’s Office in San Diego confirmed.

Their father remains in a coma, officials said.

The other two people who died were from Mexico — an 18-year-old boy and a man — according to the Mexican consulate.

A 16-year-old girl remains in hospital after ingesting sea water during the ordeal.

The consulate is working with the families in Mexico to repatriate the bodies of those who died.

Two Mexican nationals were arrested on the beach near the site of the capsizing. 

They have been charged with human smuggling resulting in death, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

Eight migrants made it to shore and were apprehended by Border Patrol agents. 

Authorities later discovered vehicles nearby driven by people allegedly involved in the smuggling scheme, waiting to collect the migrants.

Three Mexican nationals were arrested and charged with unlawfully transporting migrants. One of the drivers had previously been deported from the US in 2023.

“We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths,” US Attorney Adam Gordon said.

As US land borders have become more fortified, particularly in California, migrants have increasingly turned to dangerous sea travel.

In one of the deadliest maritime smuggling incidents in recent years, eight people were killed in 2023 when two overloaded pangas capsized near San Diego in thick fog.