At least 25 people have died and nine are still missing after a fire raged through a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the southern California coast.
US Coast Guard lieutenant commander Matthew Kroll said authorities had recovered 20 bodies and discovered five more.
Those five have not been recovered due to unsafe conditions under the boat, which sank about 18 metres from shore.
Four bodies were recovered on Monday morning and 16 others were recovered later in the day.
“We should all be prepared to move into the worst outcome,” Coast Guard captain Monica Rochester said at a news conference.
The fire broke out aboard the vessel Conception at around 3am local time (11am Irish time) on Monday off Santa Cruz Island, part of a chain of rugged wind-swept isles that form Channel Islands National Park in the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.
Five of six crew members escaped by jumping off the boat and taking refuge on an inflatable boat called The Grape Escape that was anchored nearby.
The Grape Escape’s owners, Bob and Shirley Hansen, told The New York Times they were asleep when they heard pounding on the side of their 18-metre fishing vessel at about 3.30am and discovered the frightened crew members. They told the couple they had fled when the fire grew out of control.
“When we looked out, the other boat was totally engulfed in flames, from stem to stern,” Mr Hansen said, estimating it was no more than 100 yards from his craft.
“The fire was too big, there was absolutely nothing we could do,” he added.
