MEXICO CITY — A boat carrying Chinese migrants capsized off the coast of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, killing eight migrants, and Mexican authorities said over the weekend they were investigating the incident.

The boat capsized on Friday, and Oaxacan state officials said in a statement posted on X on Saturday that the only survivor, a man, had said the boat was steered by a Mexican and that they had left the border city of Tapachula in Chiapas state on Thursday.

Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, is where many migrants hoping to get to the United States depart.

The difficulty of obtaining visas for the United States and the economic after-shocks of Covid lockdowns have led to a sharp increase in Chinese presenting at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The other migrants on the boat, seven women and one man from China, all died, the statement said, adding that they have not been officially identified.

China’s embassy is in communication with Mexican authorities and has urged them to step up the investigation into the incident, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a news conference on Monday.