Four dead, 30 missing as fire sinks California dive boat - US Coast Guard

OXNARD, Calif. (Reuters) - Four bodies were recovered on Monday by rescuers who searched for 34 people missing after a pre-down fire sank a scuba diving boat off a Southern California island, a US Coast Guard spokesman said. No other information was immediately available about the genders, identities or the conditions of the recovered bodies, Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said by phone. The search for the missing was still under way, he said. Five crew members were rescued earlier by a “good Samaritan pleasure craft” after a distress call was reported at 3:15 a.m. local time as the 75-foot (23-meter) vessel burned about 20 yards (18 meters) off of Santa Cruz Island, the Coast Guard said in a statement. “The crew was already awake and on the bridge and jumped off,” Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester told a news conference at Oxnard. The passengers were all asleep below decks, according to information the Coast Guard received, Rochester said.