34 feared dead after a dive boat fire off the Southern California coast.
Video / CBS
As many as 34 people are feared dead after a dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday off the Southern California coast, according to the US Coast Guard.
Five crew members who jumped off the dive boat Conception were rescued, and Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told the Associated Press the Coast Guard was searching for others who may have been able to escape the same way.
He added, however, that they were feared dead. Two of the crew suffered minor injuries, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney.
The commercial dive boat was engulfed in flames by the time rescuers arrived. So far just five crew members have survived. Photo / AP
The bodies of four people have so far been recovered - while more than two dozen others remain missing and feared dead.
Kroll said the four bodies had injuries consistent with drowning. Searchers continued to look for more than two dozen other people who were aboard the vessel, which burned while anchored off Santa Cruz Island.
"Right now they're conducting shoreline searches for any available survivors," Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester told reporters at a brief news conference at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.
Asked if the crew tried to help others aboard, Rochester said, "I don't have any additional information."
A woman who came to the harbour said, "My son was on that boat." She was led away by a Ventura County firefighter.
The US Coast Guard launched several boats to help over two dozen people "in distress" off the coast of southern California. Photo / via AP
Rochester said the 20-metre commercial scuba diving vessel was anchored in Platt's Harbor, about 18 metres off the northern coast of Santa Cruz Island, when the fire ignited around 3am.
She said the vessel sank in 20m of water, adding its bow is still visible above the waterline.
"At 3:15 this morning the Coast Guard overheard a mayday call. The call was garbled, it was not that clear, but we were able to get some information out of it to send vessels on scene," Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said.
Rochester said that call indicated the boat was already fully ablaze.
Asked if the boat operator has a history of any violations, Rochester said, "The vessel has been in full compliance."
The Conception was operated by Worldwide Diving Adventures, a respected Santa Barbara-based company that says on its website it has been taking divers on such expeditions since 1972. It had departed at 4am Saturday with plans to return at 5pm Monday.
FBI and Coast Guard personnel at US Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard California following the deadly blaze on a commercial dive boat. Photo / AP
A website for the company that owns the boat listed a charter for the long Labor Day weekend, an excursion advertised as a liveaboard dive trip to the scenic waters around the islands. The boat was scheduled to return to Santa Barbara on Monday afternoon.
Such liveaboard trips allow divers to make several dives per day and to anchor near popular dive sites without having to return to shore in between. They typically allow divers to eat, sleep and relax while travelling to and from the sites.
There are more than 30 bunks below deck where charter guests, who can book in groups or individually, stay for overnight island trips. It can sleep up to 36 people on 13 double bunks and 20 single bunks that are stacked in rows of three and three.
Robert Wilhemy, of Tahoe City, California, said yesterday that he had been on diving trips on the Conception.
"Basically, down below there's sleeping areas, the crew sleeps up above," Wilhemy said. "It's a beautiful boat, but a bad idea if you have a tragedy like this."
