'It couldn't be worse': Dozens of bodies pulled from water after horrific dive boat fire
More than 25 people have died after their cruise ship caught fire in California’s south.
The Conception, which was anchored off Santa Cruz Island caught fire on Monday about 3am local time about 90km northwest of Los Angeles.
The crew made a mayday call and there was only one narrow stairway out for more than 30 sleeping passengers.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Matthew Kroll said everyone on board was taking part in a scuba-diving trip and more than 25 people died.
The boat sank in 18 metres of water and more than 25 people died. Four bodies have since been recovered with the cause of death said to be drowning.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the rescue operation was difficult.
“You couldn’t ask for a worse situation,” he said.
Sheriff Brown said the boat is now upside down “in relatively shallow water with receding tides that are moving it around”.
The missing and dead are among 39 passengers and crew who had departed Santa Barbara’s Channel Islands Harbor on Saturday aboard Conception.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said the crew called for help but it was “garbled”.
He added crews were able to get enough information to attempt rescue though.
Captain Paul Amaral of the vessel assistance company TowBoatUS also launched a fast boat from Ventura Harbor, but it was about 48 km away. By the time it got there around 5am a Coast Guard helicopter and a fireboat were on scene.
He said he first searched the water and shoreline, then turned back to the Conception, which was adrift and going aground. He attached a line and pulled it into deeper water where the fireboats could reach.
“We launched that boat knowing that the vessel was on fire, lots of people aboard,” he told The Associated Press.
Five crew members sleeping on the top deck managed to escape in a dinghy to a private fishing boat, The Grape Escape, that was anchored near the north shore of Santa Cruz Island.
The Grape Excape’s owners, Bob and Shirley Hansen, told The New York Times they were asleep when they heard pounding on the side of their 60-foot vessel about 3.30am and discovered the frightened crew members.
It’s not known when the other bodies that have been found will be retrieved.
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