Search for survivors called off: 34 presumed dead in California dive boat fire

A fire broke out on board dive boat Conception with 34 people sleeping below deck. Fiev crew members managed to escape before it sank off Santa Cruz Island. Photo / AP

The search for survivors from a Southern Californian scuba diving boat fire has been called off, with officials saying 34 people are presumed dead.

The Conception caught fire before dawn Monday morning with 39 people on board, including a group of school children and their parents. Five people survived the blast by jumping overboard and swimming to safety, but 34 people were sleeping below deck and are presumed dead.

Remains of 20 have been recovered and as many as six more bodies have been seen still in the submerged wreck.

Five of the victims are from one Northern California family.

Susana Rosas posted on social media Tuesday that her three daughters, their father and stepmother were on board the Conception when it caught fire before dawn Monday morning.

Maria C. Reitano is the head of Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz and declined Tuesday to say how many students or parents were on board the Conception. She says the trip was not school-sponsored.

In a statement posted on its website, the school says "our hearts and thoughts are with the families of the victims and those yet missing, particularly those of our students and parents on board."

Reitano and the school asked for privacy.

Officials searched for survivors, but all are now presumed dead. Recovery of the bodies of those who died in the fire is now underway. Photo / AP

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown says most victims appear to have been from Northern California, including Santa Cruz, San Jose and the San Francisco Bay region.

Brown says he doesn't have exact information on the victims' ages but cited anecdotal reports of a 17-year-old and some adults in their 60s.

Mayday calls were made

The initial critical moments of the deadly fire are still under investigation.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said there were apparently several mayday radio calls before dawn Monday.

Candles in honour of the victims at the growing memorial in Santa Barbara for those caught in the fire on the Conception boat. Photo / AP

Brown says the first call may have come from the burning vessel Conception, on which 34 people in below-decks accommodations are believed to have died.

He says subsequent calls may have come from a nearby boat that picked up five crew members who survived.

In one radio exchange, a Coast Guard radio communicator asked if people were locked inside the boat and whether the person could get back aboard the Conception and unlock doors. The replies to those questions are not on the recording.

Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester says there are no door locks in berthing spaces on such vessels.

Rochester says she interviewed the radio communicator and says he was actually trying to ask for information during a confusing situation.

- AP