- A boat caught fire near Santa Cruz Island, off the coast of Ventura County, California, at approximately 3:30 a.m. local time on Monday morning. There were 39 people in total aboard the vessel, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
- According to the Sheriff's Office, emergency responders found the 75-foot recreational diving boat named "Conception" fully engulfed in flames. The vessel sank to the ocean floor at around 7:00 a.m. local time.
- Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told the Los Angeles Times reported that 33 bodies have been recovered from the incident as of Wednesday.
- In a recording of the dispatch call made to the US Coast Guard, the boat's captain can be heard saying "I can't breathe." Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
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As of Wednesday, 33 bodies have been located and one remains missing following a massive boat fire off the coast of Ventura County, California, Monday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The diving boat Conception sent out a distress signal around 3:30 a.m. Monday morning, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. It was in the middle of a three-day trip.
The 75-foot vessel was carrying 39 people when the blaze began, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. Those aboard the ship are believed to have been sleeping in the boat's hull, according to CNN.
Five of the six crew members escaped the wreckage by jumping onto an inflatable boat, AP said.
Four bodies were recovered about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles just off Santa Cruz Island, according to AP. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll said the bodies had injuries that indicated they had drowned.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the ship to go up in flames.
In a recording of the dispatch call made to the US Coast Guard, the boat's captain can be heard saying "I can't breathe."
Shirley and Bob Hansen awoke at 3:30 a.m. to the sounds of Conception crew members pounding on the side of their boat, the Grape Escape. The crew, they told the LA Times, had paddled to their nearby boat on a rescue dinghy.
The Hansens offered the crew members blankets and clothes — some had escaped in only their underwear — and then two crew members paddled back to the Conception to look for survivors, but failed to find anyone.
According to Worldwide Diving Adventures, which operates the Conception, the boat was scheduled to anchor off the coast of the San Miguel Islands, located around 55 miles off the coast of Ventura. The San Miguel Islands are the western-most islands in the Channel Islands National Park.
