May 5 (UPI) — Three people are dead after a “panga” boat washed ashore Monday morning in southern California. Based on survivors’ reports, the craft seems to have been a vessel used for migrant travel.

“It is a suspected migrant smuggling boat,” said Petty Officer Chris Sappey, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson.

At least nine other people are still missing.

“Human smuggling, no drugs — the ones coming up from south of the border,” he specified.

According to Sappey, at least two children were on board. However, the exact number of people allegedly on board the vessel was not immediately clear.

Four survivors were given medical care in the morning hours after a boat came ashore at Torrey Pines State Park near San Diego, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Multiple local agencies — including the San Diego Police Department, nearby fire departments, Del Mar Lifeguards and U.S. border patrol agents — aided in the search that authorities had described as a “mass casualty incident.”

The emergency response began when the vessel was spotted near the 12000 block of North Torrey Pines Road after it reportedly capsized at around 6:30 a.m. local time near Del Mar.

“There were estimated to be about 18 people on the beach, so we upgraded this to a major medical response due the number of potential victims that we had on the beach with this boat,” confirmed Jorge Sanchez, deputy fire chief with the Encinitas Fire Department.

Sanchez said earlier it was unclear if it was a suspected case of human smuggling, adding that “several resources” were walking up and down the beach as well to making sure “that no one is missed.”