25 bodies found as search for California boat fire victims suspended

Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 11 women and nine men from the wreckage of the diving boat that went on fire and sank near Santa Cruz Island, and located five more, as the search for the remaining victims has been suspended.

Of at least 38 people who were on board the scuba diving vessel, the Conception, only five are known to have survived. Five more bodies have been located in the wreckage but are yet to be recovered. The rest are missing.

The victims have to be identified using DNA tests, as their bodies had sustained “extreme thermal damage” in the blaze, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a press-conference Tuesday.

Rescue crews – including the US Coast Guard and county fire departments from both Santa Barbara and Ventura – responded to the blaze early on Monday morning, but a group of good Samaritans in a pleasure craft were able to reach the vessel first and pull the five surviving crew members to safety. Most of those who perished in the accident were reportedly asleep on a lower deck of the boat, and were trapped inside when the fire broke out.

A recording of the vessel’s dramatic mayday call was obtained by CNN, in which a crew member can be made out to say “I can’t breathe,” as well as “thirty-nine DOB,” likely referring to the number of passengers on board the boat.

Though no criminal activity has been suggested, the FBI will continue to assist with an investigation into the cause of the fire, CBS reported, while the National Transportation Safety Board has also reportedly launched its own probe.

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