Eight people died and more than two dozen passengers remained unaccounted for after a 75-foot commercial diving boat on a Labor Day excursion caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island in Southern California.
Four bodies have been recovered and four more spotted on the ocean floor after a boat was destroyed۔
There were a total of 39 people on board، 33 passengers and six crew members, said Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester. Twenty-six people are missing.
“We all should be prepared to move into the worst outcome,” she told reporters.
غood Samaritans were able to save five crew members, who were awake in the main cabin and jumped off the fully engulfed boat, ٓwhile the passengers were below deck in the berthing area that’s primarily used for sleeping, according to officials.
The fire started in the early hours of Monday. The boat was anchored just metres off Santa Cruz Island, about 90 miles (145km) west of Los Angeles.
The vessel is now submerged as a search and rescue operation continues.
The cause of the blaze is not clear. Authorities said there is no evidence of a criminal act at this point.
