LOS ANGELES (AP) – A law enforcement official says investigators that examined the burned-out wreckage of a scuba diving boat haven’t been able to determine what ignited a fire that killed 34 people off the California coast.
An official with knowledge of the investigation says a two-week examination of the Conception ended Friday without a conclusive cause. The person wasn’t authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The official says parts of the vessel have been sent to labs for additional testing.
The blaze is the subject of a federal criminal investigation, led by the Coast Guard, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, as well as a safety inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB released its initial report on September 12, 2019.
The National Transportation Safety Board report said that all the crew members were asleep when the vessel caught fire on Labor Day off Santa Cruz Island.
The report describes the events when the fire broke out September 2, 2019.
All of the crew members were asleep at the time.
One crew member woke up because he heard a noise, and then saw a fire at the aft end of the sun deck.
He alerted the other crew members, while the captain said that he radioed a distress message to the Coast Guard.
Crew members said they tried to get to the passengers who were sleeping below deck but were blocked by fire.
All the victims apparently died of smoke inhalation as they were trapped below the raging fire.
The two-page report does not give insight into what may have caused the 75-foot diving vessel to go up in flames.
Investigators are working to recover the Conception amid an ongoing criminal probe conducted by the FBI, Coast Guard and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Divers have recovered the remains of all 34 victims – 21 women and 13 men ranging from 16 to 62 years old.
