LOS
ANGELES — In an SOS call alerting authorities to the fire aboard a boat
in the Channel Islands off Ventura County early Monday, the caller said
he could not breathe and that there was no escape hatch for those below
the deck sleeping.
Coast Guard officials said four bodies have been recovered and up to
30 people are believed to be missing after a 75-foot commercial diving
boat erupted in flames near the shoreline of Santa Cruz Island.
Those
on board were thought to be sleeping below deck when the fire broke out
in the predawn hours. Authorities continued their search Monday for
possible survivors as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s coroner office
prepared for a mass casualty incident.
Here is a transcript of the call:
Man, around 3:15 a.m.: “Mayday, mayday, mayday! … Conception … north side of Santa Cruz.” (He’s broken up by static.)
Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach dispatcher asks position and number of people on board.
Man: “I can’t breathe.” … (garbled)
Dispatcher: “You have 29 persons on board and you can’t breathe? What is your current GPS position?”
(Another man calls in who heard the distress call and is over by Anacapa Island.)
There’s some garbled space and back-and-forth for a few minutes as dispatchers try to reach anyone from the boat.
A frantic man can be heard:
“Vessel Conception! Vessel Conception! Vessel Conception!” …
Dispatch: “Your vessel is on fire? Is that correct? … Are you on board the Conception?”
Man: “Roger, there’s 33 people that’s on board the vessel that’s on fire. They can’t get off.”
Dispatch:
“Roger, are they locked inside the boat? Roger, can you get back on
board and unlock the boat, unlock the door so they can get off? Roger,
you don’t have any firefighting gear, no fire extinguishers or
anything?”
Dispatch: “Roger, is this the captain of the Conception?”
Man: “Roger”
Dispatch: “Was that all the crew that jumped off?”
Man: “Roger”
Dispatch: “Is the vessel fully engulfed now?”
Man: “Roger, and there’s no escape hatch for any of the people on board.”
Five
crew members were already awake and jumped off the boat, which was 20
yards offshore of the north side of Santa Cruz Island, according to
Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester.
The five crew members were
rescued by a good Samaritan boat, the Grape Escape, according to the
agency. Two of them sustained leg injuries.
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©2019 Los Angeles Times
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