'My daughters were onboard': Tragic twist in deadly dive boat fire
A heartbroken mother fears for the lives of her three daughters caught up in a scuba diving boat tragedy that presumably killed all 34 people sleeping below deck.
Authorities have called off the search for survivors of a boat packed with scuba divers that burst into flames on Monday (local time).
The fire that engulfed the Conception during a Labor Day weekend expedition, off the Southern California coast, is believed to have killed all 33 passengers and one crew member.
Susana Rosas posted on social media her three daughters, their father and stepmother were on board.
“Three of our daughters were on this boat,” Ms Rosas wrote.
Sisters Evanmichel Solano, Nicole Storm and Angela Rose Quitasol are all missing, along with their father, Michel Storm Quitasol, and stepmother.
Evanmichel was a nurse at St Joseph's Medical Centre of Stockton, where her father and stepmother also worked, according to US news outlet KSBY 6 News.
Only five crew members sleeping on the top deck were able to escape by jumping into the water and steering a small boat to a fishing vessel.
Flames blocked the escape hatch on Conception and a stairwell leading to the sleeping area, which was crowded with passengers.
The bodies of 20 victims have been recovered and divers have seen between four and six others in the sunken wreckage.
Authorities are trying to stabilise the boat that sank in about 18 metres of water so divers can recover those remains.
Most need to be identified by DNA analysis and officials are collecting samples from families, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.
Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told reporters the victims' relatives "will rely on us to do everything in our power to find out what happened aboard that vessel in the last moments of these family members' lives. That's our commitment".
Kristy Finstad, 41-year-old leader of the scuba tour and co-owner of Worldwide Diving Adventures which chartered the boat, was identified in a Facebook post by her brother, Brett Harmeling of Houston.
The sheriff says the majority of the victims appear to have been from Northern California – including Santa Cruz, San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Boat crew’s call for help ‘garbled’
Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz said some of its students and their parents were on the boat.
But the school said it was not a sponsored school trip and declined to confirm the number on-board.
When the fire broke out about 3am (local time) on Monday, the crew appeared to quickly call for help.
"The call was garbled, it was not that clear, but we were able to get some information out of it to send vessels," Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said.
The sheriff said scuba or propane tanks may have been exploding.
It’s believed two of the crew members went back toward the Conception looking for survivors, but found no one.
Dave Reid, who runs an underwater camera manufacturing business with wife Terry Schuller, has travelled on the Conception and considered it safe.
“Of all the boat companies, that would be one of the ones I wouldn't think this would happen to," Mr Reid said.
His wife said Truth Aquatics crews have always been meticulous in going over safety instructions at the beginning of every trip she's been on.
"They tell you where the life jackets are, how to put them on... the exits, where the fire extinguishers are, on every single trip," Ms Schuller said.
Both said the sleeping area was comfortable but tight, with bunk beds stacked on the lowest deck.
Leading up to the top deck to get out requires navigating a narrow stairway with only one exit.
Coast Guard records show all safety violations from the last five years were quickly addressed by the boat's owners.
Investigators have not yet determined how the fire erupted.
—With AP
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