At least 25 people are now confirmed dead while nine still remain missing after a major fire on a diving liveaboard vessel off the California coast.
A fire ripped through the dive-boat Conception overnight as passengers slept below deck
Five crew members on the top deck jumped off the boat and raised the alarm but were unable to save anyone else.
The boat was anchored off Santa Cruz Island when the fire struck
The Conception was on a three-day diving trip in the Channel Islands National Park.
It was being chartered by Worldwide Diving Adventures.
According to owners of a boat moored nearby the fire almost completely engulfed the vessel and intermittent explosions could be heard, presumably from propane or oxygen tanks.
"You couldn’t ask for a worse situation," Santa Barbara County sheriff Bill Brown said at a press conference.
