[ad_1]
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) – A fire broke out Monday morning in a boat carrying self-contained divers, anchoring near an island off the southern coast of California, killing at least eight people and leaving 26 people still missing. found alive.
Five crew members escaped by jumping off the boat and took refuge on an inflatable boat.
The rescuers found four bodies in the waters just off the island of Santa Cruz and spotted four others at the edge of the ocean near the sinking of a ship ravaged by the flames. They were still looking for survivors, but Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester warned that it was unlikely that anyone else would be found alive.
"We are going all night long, but I think we should all be ready to face the worst result," she said at an afternoon press conference.
The four bodies removed from the ocean about 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles all had drowning injuries, said Coast Guard Lieutenant Colonel Cmdr. Matthew Kroll.
It was not immediately clear when bodies at the bottom of the ocean could be found or when divers could search for the boat.
"It is upside down in relatively shallow waters with receding tides moving it," said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.
The fire was declared aboard the Conception ship around 3 am off the island of Santa Cruz, in a chain of wind-swept rugged islands that form the park. National Channel Islands in the Pacific Ocean, west of Los Angeles.
The five crew members who escaped were saved by a good Samaritan boat called The Grape Escape, anchored nearby. Two people were slightly injured, said Coast Guard master Mark Barney.
The owners of The Grape Escape, Bob and Shirley Hansen, told The New York Times that they were asleep when they heard banging on their fishing boat more than 60 feet at about 3:30 pm and discovered the crew frightened. They told the couple that they had fled when the fire had become uncontrollable.
"When we looked, the other boat was totally in flames, from stem to stern," said Hansen, estimating that it was only more than 100 meters from his boat . "I could see the fire going through holes on the side of the boat, there were these explosions every two beats, you can not get ready for that, it was horrible.
"The fire was too big, we could not do anything," he added.
Hansen stated that he and his wife gave the crew clothing and that two of them returned to the Conception looking for survivors. At a press conference, did the crew ask the crew members to try to help other passengers? "I do not have any additional information."
Rochester said the 20-meter (75-foot) commercial scuba diving vessel was anchored in Platts harbor, about 20 meters from the north coast of Santa Cruz Island, when it was underway. fire is declared.
The Conception, based in Santa Barbara Harbor, on the mainland, was the last day of a weekend Labor Day cruise on the Channel Islands when the fire broke out.
"At 3:15 this morning, the coastguard heard a call from Mayday.The call was distorted, it was not very clear, but we were able to get information to send ships to the scene "said Barney.
Rochester said the call indicated that the boat was already completely on fire.
According to Brown, the elements of the tragedy were discouraging for the rescuers: the boat was in an isolated area where firefighting capabilities were limited, passengers slept under the bridge in the middle of the night, and there was no fire. fire has moved quickly.
"You can not ask for a worse situation," said the sheriff.
The Design was chartered by Worldwide Diving Adventures, which indicates on its website that it has been taking divers on such expeditions since the 1970s. It was owned and operated by Truth Aquatics, a Santa Barbara-based company founded in 1974.
The Coast Guard Archives indicates that the design inspections conducted last February and August 2018 did not reveal any anomalies. Previous inspections have revealed some safety violations related to fire safety.
An inspection in 2016 allowed homeowners to replace the heat detector in the kitchen and, in 2014, a flowing fire hose was cited.
The records show that all security breaches over the past five years have been quickly corrected by the owners of the boat.
Dave Reid, who operates an underwater camera company with his wife and who has traveled aboard the Conception and two other boats from the Truth Aquatics fleet, said that he considered these three boats among the best and most the safest dive boats.
"When you see the boats, they are always flawless," he said. "I would not hesitate at all to take one in. Of all the boat companies, it would be one of those I did not think would happen."
Reid said the divers slept at night in an open room on the lowest deck of the ship. Getting on the upper deck to get off the boat requires navigating a narrow stairway with a single exit. If the fire moved quickly, he said, it is very likely that the divers can not escape and the crew can not reach them.
The sleeping area is also close to the bow, engine and diving equipment, which adds to the difficulty of getting out quickly, he said.
"There was an explosion in the engine area that could have entered the sleeping area directly," he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to investigate.
The Truth Aquatics website indicates that the vessel, launched in 1981, has life rafts and lifejackets that can accommodate up to 110 passengers. Outputs to port, starboard and forward are "easy to access".
The trip promised many opportunities to see colorful coral and a wide variety of marine life around the Channel Islands, which attract boaters, divers and hikers.
Five of the eight Channel Islands include the National Park and Santa Cruz is the largest of the park, with an area of about 96 square miles.
[ad_2]
Source link