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September 02, 2019Three days of scuba diving off the coast of California turned into a fiery hell for 34 people, caught in flames in their sleep. Tragic the death toll - still not officially confirmed by the authorities, which for now are limited to talking about missing - of the fire that developed on board the Conception, a boat of about 23 meters left last Saturday from Santa Barbara and in sea for three days along the island of Santa Cruz.4 bodies recovered
Rescuers have recovered four bodies, said coast guard captain Monica Rochester, during a press conference broadcast live by local broadcasters.
The 5 crew members are safe
In addition to the passengers also five crew members, who managed to escape, two of them with minor leg injuries. According to the coast guard, the mayday started shortly after 3 am local time (after 12 in Italy). The alarm spoke of flames on board and the ship was about twenty meters from the coast.
The rescue operations were taken immediately but were made difficult by the fog and also by the violence of the flames which, thanks to the quantity of fuel on board, continued to feed even after being turned off.
"The flames were so strong - said the coastguard Aaron Bemis - that they prevented us from getting on board the vessel to look for survivors".
When the fire broke out, the 34 passengers slept in their bunks and probably the flames surprised them in their sleep. "I am not aware of survivors", he only said Bemis, adding that it is still too early to talk about certain victims. It is also hoped that, given the proximity to the coast, someone managed to swim ashore.
At the moment the ship is completely burned and sunk.
The crew, on the other hand, was awake and stood above the bridge. The five, including the captain, threw themselves into the sea and were rescued by a passing ship.
Conception is a boat run by Truth Aquatics, specializing in diving cruises in the Channel Islands, an archipelago of eight islands, including Santa Cruz, in the Pacific Ocean along the California coast. The cruise on board the conception was organized for the Labor Day holiday weekend, which officially marks the end of the summer season in the United States. But it turned into a tragedy.