25 bodies found after California boat fire, nine missing

Reuters | Published: September 03, 2019 10:53:23 | Updated: September 04, 2019 10:55:42

Flowers are seen at a makeshift memorial near Truth Aquatics as the search continues for those missing in a pre-dawn fire that sank a commercial diving boat off a Southern California island near Santa Barbara, California, U.S., September 2, 2019. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

Divers found 25 bodies on Monday after a pre-dawn fire sank a scuba diving vessel off a Southern California island, leaving nine people unaccounted for, as the US Coast Guard continued its search, media reported.

Representatives for the Coast Guard’s division in Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara, California, Sheriff’s Office could not immediately confirm the reports from CBS News and the Associated Press, of the recovery operation in waters off Santa Cruz.