Officials believe a number of people have died after a huge fire broke out aboard a dive boat off the coast of Southern California .
Fire crews from Ventura County Fire Department were called to the incident at around 3.30am this morning.
Captain Brian McGrath of the fire service confirmed some deaths but was unable to give an exact number.
It is believed that around 34 people were asleep on the bottom deck when flames engulfed the boat - they all remain unaccounted for.
Five crew members, who were sleeping on the top deck at the time, were rescued from the 75-foot commercial scuba diving vessel.
One of the crew suffered minor injuries.
The Coastguard deployed helicopters, small boats and a patrol cutter in the area for a search-and-rescue operation off of Santa Cruz Island, about 90 miles from Los Angeles .
It is not clear exactly how many people were on board at the time of the incident, but the coastguard said that more than 30 people were “in distress”.
