25 victims found, including 9 still missing after the fire of a boat near the island of Santa Cruz



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5p Labor Day Boat Fire






9:50 p.m.

The bodies of 25 people killed in the fire of a boat on the island of Santa Cruz were found, according to the US Coast Guard. The Associated Press.

At 9:45 pm, 25 of the 34 missing persons were located. The bodies of four people were transported to Santa Barbara on Monday afternoon. During the 16-hour press conference, authorities announced that 4 more bodies had been found in the ocean near the wreck of a dive boat Design.

Nine people are still missing.

The identities of the deceased have not been revealed yet.

Local authorities plan to address the media as part of the latest update on Tuesday at 10 am.


Four bodies were found, four others were spotted at the bottom of the ocean and dozens of people have still not been found after following the fire of a boat aboard. A dive boat based in Santa Barbara early Monday morning.

The fire is declared aboard the ship Santa Barbara "Design" north of Santa Cruz Island, at about 3:15, 39 people were on the manifest of the boat. 34 people immediately disappeared, according to the US Coast Guard.

Four bodies were found in the water and the search teams located four bodies at the bottom of the ocean near the spilled ship that sank. Efforts continue to search for survivors or additional bodies. Four of the bodies discovered were transported by boat to the Coast Guard Department of the Port of Santa Barbara.

DNA has to identify these bodies, according to Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County.

Flight restrictions are in place around the search area. The Coast Guard needs to continue its research throughout the evening.

Fire

Coastguards and firefighters from Ventura County responded to the fire early Monday morning.

The fire was declared aboard the boat at about 3:15, on the north side of the island, near the port of Platts.

In the morning tweets, coastguards reported that "multiple assets" had been sent to the boat, which is used by divers exploring the ocean waters of the Santa Barbara Canal.

Ventura County Fire tweeted photos that show the boat completely engulfed by the flames.

A Mayday call was sent by a member of the crew. The short radio transmission describes the condition of the boat and the correspondent told the Coast Guard that he could not breathe. Immediately after receiving Mayday's call, the Coast Guard rushed to deploy units on fire.

When coast guards and firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the boat in flames. Explosions could be heard as they extinguished the flames.

The ship finally sank about 20 meters from the coast in 64 feet of water, around 7 am.

Photo courtesy of Ventura County Fire Department

The rescue

Five people were saved from the boat aboard a Good Samaritan boat Grape Escape. The five would be members of the boat's crew. A crew member is among the missing.

The owner of Grape Escape said that he was awakened by the sound of someone beating on his boat. When he got up, he discovered that the crew members were hanging on a rubber mud.

According to the Coast Guard, the rescued crew members were awake on the upper deck of the boat and able to escape when the fire broke out. A member of the crew was able to send a phone call but was forced to jump off the boat to escape the fire. The Coast Guard reported that one of these crew members had a broken leg.

The four bodies found, the four located at the bottom of the ocean, and the other missing, would have slept under the bridge, according to the captain of the American Coast Guard Los Long, sector of the Long Beach sector, Monica Rochester. One of the missing is a sixth member of the crew.

The boat

The owner of the 75 feet Design He arrived Monday morning to brief Coast Guard officials at Channel Islands Harbor. Glen Fritzler was not able to provide much detail publicly when he arrived at Coast Guard facilities.

Her boat is well known to members of the Santa Barbara Harbor community and the California diving community as a whole.

Fritzler cooperated with the investigation, according to the Coast Guard.

Design has been authorized and approved to be in the area, according to the National Parks Service.

Coast Guard records indicate that inspections conducted in February and August 2018 did not reveal any anomalies. Previous inspections have revealed certain offenses related to fire safety.

An inspection in 2016 resulted in the owner replacing the heat detector in the kitchen and in 2014, a fire hose had leaked. The records show that all the security breaches of the last five years were quickly corrected by the boat owner.

Design, which is operated by Truth Aquatics, was on a multi-day tour, having left the port of Santa Barbara on Saturday. The tour was announced as a dive trip from Labor Day weekend.

The layout of the boat shows three high bunk beds in the lower deck dormitories and a staircase leading to the kitchen and the upper deck.

This layout shows the dormitories of Conception. (Aquatic Truth)

The Red Cross has created a family support center at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara. Volunteers trained in mental health and spiritual care were on site. Family members can call 833-688-5551 for information.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office will conduct the investigation.

At 4 pm The press conference will be the last briefing until another scheduled on Tuesday at 10:00.


Watch the 16 hours press conference:

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