Three of Indian descent feared dead in California boat fire

Thirty-three people who had signed up for a three-day scuba diving trip off the coast of California on a 80-foot boat called Conception and one of its five crew members died after a fire on board in the early hours of Monday, last day of an extended Labor Day weekend.

At least three of the 34 victims of the diving boat fire tragedy off the coast of California could “possibly” be of Indian descent, local authorities said Friday, citing notification procedures as the reason for the delay in identifying them.

An attendee kneels in front of scuba tanks that were placed to represent each victim during a vigil on Friday in Santa Barbara, California, for the people who died aboard the dive boat Conception. (AP Photo)

The Santa Barbara county police identified 22 of the victims Friday, saying the next of kin of all 34 had been contacted for DNA samples to help in the identification process as the bodies were severely damaged because of the intensity of the fire and no more family samples were anticipated.

“Three of the victims are possibly of Indian descent,” Lt Erin Raney of the Santa Barbara sheriff’s office told Hindustan Times. And they were not among those identified.

Relatives of two of the Indian Americans — a couple — flew in from India to provide DNA samples for identification, he added.

No other details were available about the identity of the three Indian Americans and county officials said they hoped to release more information next week.

Thirty-three people who had signed up for a three-day scuba diving trip off the coast of California on a 80-foot boat called Conception and one of its five crew members died after a fire on board in the early hours of Monday, last day of an extended Labor Day weekend.

Preliminary investigations indicate victims died of asphyxiation. “The indicators are from the preliminary examination of the bodies that the victims died prior to being burned,” Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told reporters.

Multiple investigations are underway into the cause of the fire and some US media reports suggested, citing officials, fire safety arrangements on the boat might have been insufficient even though the vessel had been certified for operations.