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The 22-meter-long vessel set up for dive-diving trips sank as firefighters tried to extinguish the fire. Ventura County Fire Department / Document distributed via

In Santa Barbara, California, authorities fear a heavy toll after a fire on board a tourist boat. The boat was sailing near the island of Santa Cruz for a diving holiday. This happened last night, 39 people were on board, the boat sank after the fire broke out, hence the pessimism of the authorities. Five passengers were rescued, 34 people are still missing.

The Conception is now about 20 meters deep, just 20 meters from the coast of Santa Cruz Island, off Santa Barbara, its home port. Only part of his bow protrudes from the surface, say coastguards, who were unable to confirm deaths at this stage.

Rescues were now conducting research along the coast of the island, hoping to find survivors of the disaster, said Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester.

A total of 39 people were on board, but five of them, members of the crew, were able to leave the boat on their own and were picked up by a pleasure boat not far away.

By the time the fire broke out " the crew was awake and present on deck, they jumped overboard, " said Captain Rochester, unable to say whether they had tried to rescue the passengers.

The emergency call received by the rescue came from the Conception , she said, stating that " the ship was perfectly in order " and that her owner was currently working with the coastguard.

Trapped by the fire

Without access to the ship, relief was not able to give an accurate assessment on Monday morning, but they said they did not know if there were any survivors, adding that one could expect to many victims.

" The five crew members were able to leave because they were in the main cabin , "said a Coast Guard officer on CNN. The passengers were "under the bridge. According to the information we have, they were trapped by the fire. "

" The fire was so intense that even after it was extinguished, we could not go on board and (...) go in search of survivors, " he added. Relief operations were complicated by a thick fog that hovered over the area on Monday at dawn.

No assumptions were available at this stage as to the cause of the fire on board. According to the website of its shipowner Truth Aquatics, the Design left Santa Barbara on Saturday at dawn for an excursion dedicated to scuba diving in the neighboring islands, an extremely touristy area. He was to return to his home port on Monday afternoon, a holiday in the United States.

The boat had anchored, presumably to spend the night, north of Santa Cruz, a steep island that is part of the Channel Islands National Park, at a creek called Platts Harbor.

(With AFP)