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Teenager and marine biologist among victims of dive boat fire
At least 25 people are now confirmed dead while nine still remain missing after a fire ripped through a dive boat off the California coast.
The victims are understood to have been sleeping below deck on the liveaboard dive boat Conception when the fire broke out.
The boat was operated by Truth Aquatics, the biggest outfit of its kind in California, and it had been chartered by Worldwide Diving Adventures, a long-established, California-based company which organises dive trips in the US and the Caribbean.
Five crew members on the top deck escaped from a boat in a dinghy and raised the alarm. They were rescued by a nearby fishing vessel, the Grape Escape, which was moored in the same harbour. From the boat, the crew also called emergency services, but they were unable to save anyone else.
The boat was anchored off Santa Cruz Island.
The Conception was on a three-day diving trip in the Channel Islands National Park.
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.
The identities and nationalities of the victims have not been released but a 17-year-old celebrating her birthday on the dive trip with her parents, and a marine biologist, 41-year-old Kristy Finstad (above), whose family runs Worldwide Diving Adventures, are believed to have been on the boat and are both missing.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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