Divers were searching for bodies on the wreckage of a scuba diving boat off California on Tuesday, after a fast-moving fire trapped dozens of people below deck.
Emergency crews found at least 25 bodies after the fire broke out before dawn off Santa Cruz Island on Monday, leaving nine people still missing, the Associated Press reported.
Five of the six-person crew who were above deck on the bridge managed to escape in an inflatable boat.
The Coast Guard declined to confirm the figures as authorities launched an investigation into one of the area's worst maritime disasters. "We are looking for bodies now," said Santa Barbara fire department spokeswoman Amber Anderson.
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In a recording of a desperate call to the Coast Guard, a man is heard gasping as he seeks help. “Mayday, mayday, mayday!” he said.
"That's a distress, this is the Coast Guard sector Los Angeles on channel 1-6, what is your position ... and number of persons on board? Over," the dispatcher answered.
“Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine POB [persons on board],” said the man in the partly inaudible call. “I can’t breathe... Twenty-nine POB.” The dispatcher at least twice more requested the GPS location of the vessel but the caller apparently failed to respond.
Investigators said a single mayday call came from the boat reporting the fire. "It happened quickly enough so many people could not get off," US Coast Guard lieutenant commander Matthew Kroll told CNN.
The boat sank later in the morning and was lying upside down under more than 18m of water, police said.
Officials said there were a total of 33 passengers and six crew members onboard the Conception, a 23 m boat, when the fire started at about 3.15am on Monday.
Witnesses reported hearing a number of explosions, but authorities said it was too early to say what caused the fire. Santa Barbara county sheriff Bill Brown said on Monday scuba or propane tanks on the boat may have blown up in the flames.
The surviving crew members sought refuge on a fishing boat moored nearby, banging on the side to wake up Bob Hansen and his wife, who were sleeping onboard.
“When we looked out, the other boat was totally engulfed in flames, from stem to stern,” Mr Hansen told the New York Times. “There were these explosions every few beats. You can’t prepare yourself for that. It was horrendous.”
After borrowing clothes from the Hansens, some crew members headed back toward the Conception to look for survivors without luck, Mr Hansen said.
The federal National Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a team of engineers and fire specialists to investigate the blaze.
The diving vessel was chartered by Worldwide Diving Adventures, a Santa Barbara, California, excursion firm. It said on its website the Conception was on a three-day excursion to the Channel Islands, and was due back in Santa Barbara at 5pm on Monday.
The boat's owner, Truth Aquatics, referred queries about the accident to a joint media centre. "This is still an ongoing search and rescue," it said. – Reuters