SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Despite advisories not to enter the water due to extremely high surf brought on by this week’s storm, 11 members of Mexico’s National Guard went into the ocean for a training exercise and seven never came back.
The soldiers were reported missing Tuesday afternoon in the coastal community of Ensenada, about 60 miles south of the border.
Search efforts, both on land and from the air continue two days later.
According to Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, the group taking part in the exercise was hit by a giant wave and then swept out to sea.
The governor talked about the incident during a news conference on Wednesday.
She said Mexico’s Coast Guard, lifeguards and firefighters from Ensenada were conducting the search along with members of the military.
The names and hometowns of the missing Guards members have not been released.
All are reportedly between 21 and 25 years old.
In the summer of 1996, 14 soldiers died during an exercise in Baja’s Salton Lake as they trained under extremely hot conditions.
Read: Read More