Close to three dozen people are unaccounted for after a commercial scuba diving boat caught fire off of Santa Cruz Island early Monday morning.
Some people have died and rescuers were searching for 34 more. Capt. Brian McGrath of the Ventura County Fire Department confirmed some deaths to The Daily Beast but said he could not give an exact number.
Five crewmembers sleeping on the top deck of the 75-foot commercial scuba diving vessel were rescued, according to Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll of the U.S. Coast Guard. But he said 34 passengers who were sleeping below deck have not been accounted for.
One of the crew suffered minor injuries.
VCFD PIO on Twitter CoastInc: @VCFD responded to boat fire off the north side of Santa Cruz Island at approximately 3:28am. @USCG helping support rescue operations for people aboard a dive boat. #ChannelIslands @USCGLosAngeles @CountyVentura @SBCOUNTYFIRE
The Ventura County Fire Department said on Twitter that it responded to the fire around 3:30 a.m. A photo tweeted by the department showing a boat engulfed in flames.
The Coast Guard has helicopters, small boats and a patrol cutter in the area for a search-and-rescue operation off of Santa Cruz Island, about 90 miles from Los Angeles.
It’s not clear how many people were on the boat, but the Coast Guard earlier said that more than 30 people were “in distress.”
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