All 34 passengers died in raging blaze on California dive boat, officials say as workers try to recover bodies

None of a dive boat’s 34 passengers survived a fast-moving fire that sank it off California’s Santa Cruz Island, officials said on Tuesday, as recovery workers prepared to try to retrieve 14 bodies still believed to be on the vessel or in the ocean.

Emergency workers planned to use DNA analysis to identify the badly burned remains of the 20 people so far removed from the 75-foot (23m) ship Conception, which was lying upside down under more than 60 feet (18m) of water following the blaze early Monday morning.

“There were several other victims that were seen by the divers – between four and six – that are still between the wreckage, but due to the position of the boat they were unable to be recovered before nightfall,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told a news conference. “Today, efforts will be made to stabilise the boat so that divers can safely enter it, search it and recover additional victims.”

Five members of the six-person crew who were above deck on the bridge managed to escape in an inflatable boat. The single crew member who did not survive appeared to have been sleeping below deck with the passengers when the fire broke out.

Officials said DNA was needed for positive identification because the 11 female and 9 male victims were so badly burned. Victims range in age from 17 to 60 and most are from the Santa Cruz and San Jose areas, authorities said.