BREAKING UPDATE: 34 people are now presumed dead in the California diving boat fire, US Coast Guard says.
Yuliya Talmazan, Elisha Fieldstadt and David K. Lia diving boat caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz IslandThe 75-foot commercial vessel called the Conception, carrying 33 passengers and 6 crew members, went up in flames at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, officials said.
The remains of 20 people — 11 women and 9 men — had been recovered, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said during the latest news conference. Between four and six additional bodies were seen trapped within the wreckage of the boat, Brown said.He said authorities were in contact with families of 30 of the victims, and were collecting DNA samples from them to identify remains.
The other crew member was among the 34 who are thought to be dead and were sleeping below deckwhen the fire broke out. The boat was on a three-day $665 diving excursion"to explore the pinnacles of San Miguel Island," according to a Truth Aquatics schedule. It departed Saturday morning and was due back Monday evening.Bob Hansen told NBC News that he and his wife were in their boat,"The Grape Escape," in a cove about 400 yards away at the time of the fire and helped the captain and four crew members who managed to escape.
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