At least 8 people are dead and 26 others are missing hours after a pre-dawn fire swept through a commercial diving boat off the coast of Southern California. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s coroner office "is preparing for a mass casualty incident, per the Los Angeles Times.
The latest: Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told a news conference Sunday afternoon that the bodies of 2 men and 2 women were found near the wreckage of the boat and authorities had located but not yet recovered 4 other bodies on the ocean floor "in close proximity to the vessel." In audio of the boat's distress call released to California news outlets, a person says he's the captain tells the dispatcher he "can’t breathe." He later says there’s "no escape hatch for any of the people on board."
BREAKING Listen to the Mayday Call from the Diving Boat that caught fire off of the coast of Southern California. @nbcbayareahttps://t.co/pldCktQvGq pic.twitter.com/qCK0V1yXVl
— John Zuchelli (@tvzuke) September 2, 2019
What we know so far, per AP:
- The fire aboard the diving vessel Conception started about 3 a.m. local time as the boat was anchored in Platt Harbor, near the coast of Santa Cruz Island.
- 5 crew members were already awake and jumped off the bridge, Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said at a press conference.
- In the audio of a garbled 3:15 am mayday call, obtained by the Los Angeles CBS affiliate, the caller can be heard shouting, "I can't breathe."
- By the time the Coast Guard got the mayday call, the boat was already engulfed in flames.
- The four bodies that were recovered had injuries consistent with drowning, according to Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll.
What we don't know: The cause of the fire, and whether the crew tried to help any of the passengers.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details from Sunday's news conference.
