WhatKnot
Well-Known Angler
What the heck happened, so sad.
CNN)The US Coast Guard on Tuesday suspended the search for victims of adeadly Labor Day boat fire off the California coast, officials said.
Of the 39 people aboard the 75-foot dive boat Conception, only five people — four crew members and a captain — were found alive, officials said.
Twenty bodies have been recovered. They have been identified as 11 women and nine men, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told reporters.
United States Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said the search was suspended because no other people were seen entering the water. An aircraft that flew over the scene on Tuesday didn't see any additional signs of debris or distress. The search and rescue operation is now a recovery mission, she said.
"It is never an easy decision to suspend search efforts," Rochester said. "We know that this is a very difficult time for families and friends of the victims."
Crews searched a 160-mile area for close to 24 hours, she said.
Divers saw four to six bodies in the wreckage but couldn't recover them before nightfall because the boat was unstable, Brown said. Crews will try to stabilize the boat so divers can safely enter it to recover the remaining bodies, he said.
Thirty-three people had signed up to spend what promised to be a glorious weekend for scuba divers aboard the boat: unlimited diving among colorful underwater sea life, with gourmet meals served between dives.
But on the last part of the three-day trip, the ship caught fire off Santa Cruz Island.
"This is probably the worst-case scenario you can possibly have," Brown said. "You have a vessel that's on the open sea, that is in the middle of the night. I mean, it's 3:30 in the morning."
CNN)The US Coast Guard on Tuesday suspended the search for victims of adeadly Labor Day boat fire off the California coast, officials said.
Of the 39 people aboard the 75-foot dive boat Conception, only five people — four crew members and a captain — were found alive, officials said.
Twenty bodies have been recovered. They have been identified as 11 women and nine men, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told reporters.
United States Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester said the search was suspended because no other people were seen entering the water. An aircraft that flew over the scene on Tuesday didn't see any additional signs of debris or distress. The search and rescue operation is now a recovery mission, she said.
"It is never an easy decision to suspend search efforts," Rochester said. "We know that this is a very difficult time for families and friends of the victims."
Crews searched a 160-mile area for close to 24 hours, she said.
Divers saw four to six bodies in the wreckage but couldn't recover them before nightfall because the boat was unstable, Brown said. Crews will try to stabilize the boat so divers can safely enter it to recover the remaining bodies, he said.
Thirty-three people had signed up to spend what promised to be a glorious weekend for scuba divers aboard the boat: unlimited diving among colorful underwater sea life, with gourmet meals served between dives.
But on the last part of the three-day trip, the ship caught fire off Santa Cruz Island.
"This is probably the worst-case scenario you can possibly have," Brown said. "You have a vessel that's on the open sea, that is in the middle of the night. I mean, it's 3:30 in the morning."
