LOS ANGELES, CA — Dispatch audio reveals the captain of a 75-foot-long commercial scuba-diving boat that caught fire early Monday morning near Santa Cruz Island told the U.S. Coast Guard that passengers had no way to escape while locked on board, according to a report by Comstock’s.
By Tuesday morning, 20 bodies had been recovered and 14 passengers and one crew member were still reported missing after the vessel caught fire off the coast of Southern California, The New York Times reported
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Los Angeles/Long Beach station received a mayday call around 3:15 a.m. of the engulfed vessel.
With help from a good Samaritan crew, five people evacuated safely from the fiery boat, which was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, according to the Coast Guard.
Crews from the Coast Guard, Santa Barbara Fire and Ventura County Fire fought the flames, but the boat eventually sank 20 yards offshore in 64 feet of water, according to the Coast Guard. A portion of the bow was sticking out of the water.
Authorities have confirmed some fatalities, although the exact number was unknown.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told The Associated Press as many as 34 people were feared dead. Two crew members suffered minor injuries, the Coast Guard said.
Conception had a maximum capacity of 46 people, according to the website California Diving News. The boat, which launched in 1981, was rented by Santa Barbara-based company Truth Aquatics.
Late Monday morning, Coast Guard was using two helicopters, at least two vessels and a California Fish-and-Wildlife boat as its search for the missing boaters continued.
Family members looking for information about their loved ones can call 833-688-5551, according to Coast Guard officials in Los Angeles.
Five people who escaped the boat were crew members who used an inflatable tender boat to reach a man and wife on the only other boat anchored in the area, a 60-foot fishing boat called The Grape Escape.
The fire happened about 20 feet off shore from Santa Cruz Island, which is within Santa Barbara County and is the largest of eight Channel Islands.
Bob Hansen, owner of The Grape Escape, said he and his wife were awoken at about 3:30 a.m. by pounding noises. He said he threw on a pair of shorts, opened his cabin door and saw five men in only their underwear.
The crew members told Hansen they jumped ship when Conception caught fire.
“When we looked out, the other boat was totally engulfed in flames, from stem to stern,” Hansen told the New York Times, adding his boat was about 300 feet away from the Conception. “I could see the fire coming through holes on the side of the boat. There were these explosions every few beats. You can’t prepare yourself for that. It was horrendous.”
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