En una llamada de auxilio que alertó a las autoridades sobre el incendio a bordo de un barco en las Islas Channel, frente al condado de Ventura, el lunes por la mañana, la persona que llamó dijo que no podía respirar y que no había escotilla de escape para 33 personas que se encontraban debajo de la cubierta.
El lunes por la tarde, el Sheriff del Condado de Santa Bárbara, Bill Brown, dijo que ocho personas habían muerto y al menos 26 se encontraban desaparecidas después de que el barco de buceo comercial de 75 pies la Concepción, estallara en llamas cerca de la Isla Santa Cruz.
Los cuerpos de dos hombres y dos mujeres fueron recuperados y necesitarán ser identificados a través del ADN, dijo. Cuatro cuerpos adicionales fueron encontrados “en el fondo del océano, muy cerca del barco”, dijo Brown.
Los equipos de buceo estaban trabajando para recuperar esos cuerpos, así como otros que podrían estar dentro del barco, que estaba boca abajo en el fondo del mar, a unos 62 pies de profundidad, dijeron las autoridades.
Se cree que los que estaban a bordo dormían debajo de la cubierta cuando se produjo el incendio en la madrugada.
La llamada fue confusa pero frenética.
“¡Mayday, mayday, mayday! Concepción... lado norte de Santa Cruz”, dijo un hombre a eso de las 3:15 a.m., sus palabras acompañadas de estática.
Un despachador del Sector de la Guardia Costera de Los Ángeles-Long Beach preguntó la posición del buque y el número de personas a bordo.
”...¡No puedo respirar!”, dijo el hombre.
“¿Tienes 29 personas a bordo y no puedes respirar? ¿Cuál es su posición GPS actual”, preguntó el despachador.
Hay una cacofonía de ruido y estática. El hombre se queda en silencio, y el despachador trata de hacer que hable de nuevo mientras los barcos cercanos se apresuran a llegar al área.
Entonces, se escucha la voz de un hombre:
“¡Barco Concepción! ¡Barco Concepción! ¡Barco Concepción!... Reportando un barco en llamas”.
Despachador: “... ¿su nave está ardiendo? ¿Es eso correcto?... ¿Estás a bordo de la Concepción?”
Algunas de las preguntas del despachador son contestadas con sonidos ininteligibles. No está claro, en algunas partes de la llamada, si la persona que habla es un despachador o alguien a bordo de la Concepción.
Un hombre dice: “Roger, hay 33 personas a bordo de la nave que está en llamas. No pueden salir”.
Despacho: “Roger, ¿están encerrados dentro del barco? Roger, ¿puedes volver a bordo y abrir el barco, abrir la puerta para que puedan bajar? Roger, no tienes ningún equipo de extinción de incendios, ni extintores ni nada?”
Despacho: “...¿Es la capitana de la Concepción?...”
Despacho: “...¿Fue toda la tripulación la que saltó?...”
Despacho: “¿Está la nave completamente hundida ahora?”
Un hombre dice: “Roger, y no hay escotilla de escape para ninguna de las personas a bordo”.
Cinco miembros de la tripulación ya estaban despiertos y saltaron del barco, que estaba a 20 yardas del lado norte de la isla Santa Cruz, según la Capitana de la Guardia Costera Mónica Rochester.
Los cinco tripulantes fueron rescatados por un barco samaritano, el Grape Escape, según la agencia. Dos de ellos sufrieron lesiones en las piernas.
El despachador hizo una petición: “Platts Harbor. La Guardia Costera ha recibido un informe de que la nave Concepción se encuentra en llamas... Se ruega a todos los marineros que estén atentos. Ayude si es posible. Reporte cualquier señal a la Guardia Costera de EE.UU”.
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The burned hulk of the Conception is brought to the surface by a salvage team off Santa Cruz Island. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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The burned hulk of the Conception is brought to the surface by a salvage team off Santa Cruz Island. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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A mourner pays her respects at a memorial made up of scuba tanks, one for each victim, during the vigil at Chase Palm Park on Friday night. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening honoring the victims of the Conception boat fire that broke out off Santa Cruz Island before dawn Monday and claimed 34 lives. (Luis Sinco)
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Glen Fritzler, left, co-owner of Truth Aquatics and the dive boat Conception, consoles an attendee during a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
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Scuba diver Julia Donath joins mourners for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening to honor the 34 victims that died in the Conception boat fire. (Luis Sinco)
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Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, with other officials, presents a wreath during the vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening homor the 34 victims of the Conception boat fire. (Luis Sinco)
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Mourners gather for a vigil at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara on Friday evening honoring the victims of the Conception boat fire that broke out off Santa Cruz Island before dawn Monday and claimed 34 lives. (Luis Sinco)
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Some of the thousands of people join a vigil on the beach in honor of those who lost their lives in the Conception boat fire along the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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Allison Metchikof, left and Rachel Levi, right, embrace during a vigil hosted by Deep Blue Scuba Center in honor of the victims aboard the dive ship Conception in Long Beach. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
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Divers and support crews from many agencies work the scene of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County)
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The derrick barge Salta Verde off the coast of Santa Cruz Island upon its arrival late Wednesday at the scene of the wreck of the dive boat Conception. (U.S. Coast Guard)
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The search area where divers were looking through the sunken wreckage of the Conception is outlined. (KABC-TV)
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Divers and support crews from many agencies work the scene of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County)
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The owners of Truth Aquatics and the dive boat Conception, Glen and Dana Fritzler, right, and their daughter Ashley, left, during an interview in Santa Barbara, Calif. (KEYT-TV)
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Surfer Tim DeVries of Santa Barbara views the “Lost at Sea Memorial” at the end of the Santa Barbara Harbor jetty Thursday morning. The memorial reads “In memory of our loved ones whose lives and destinies have been claimed by the sea.” (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Members of the FBI dive team view a growing memorial prior to departing Thursday morning to the site of the dive boat tragedy. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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People pay their respects at a makeshift memorial in Santa Barbara for victims of the deadly dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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CJ Andelman, 12, of Santa Barbara, who has become a scuba diver along with her twin sister, plays her harp Wednesday morning during the memorial at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Jennifer Homendy, center, of the National Transportation Safety Board, with other NTSB and Coast Guard officials on Santa Barbara Harbor aboard Vision, the sister ship to Conception. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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Santa Barbara resident Britany Martin lets her son Theo, 2, place flowers at a growing memorial to the fire victims at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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FBI dive team members prepare to leave Santa Barbara Harbor on Wednesday morning and head to the site of the fire. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
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A memorial is growing at Santa Barbara Harbor, where the dive boat Conception was based. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Olivia, left, sister of a female crew member thought to have died in the boat fire, hugs Jennifer Stafford, who placed flowers at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Search and rescue personnel remove one of more than a dozen body bags in Santa Barbara Harbor after the Conception diving boat caught fire early Monday. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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After hanging a dive flag in memory of the victims, JJ Lambert, 38, who said he had dived off the Conception as a kid, is hugged by Jenna Marsala, 33, at Santa Barbara Harbor near where the Conception departed. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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Orlando Aldana places candles, one for each person aboard the Conception, at a makeshift memorial at Sea Landing in the Santa Barbara Harbor. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)
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At Santa Barbara Harbor, James Miranda kneels in prayer. “It’s a very sad moment for California,” he said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
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Rescuers and law enforcement, on a boat docked at Santa Barbara Harbor, move a body that was recovered after Monday’s deadly boat fire. (Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press)
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The body of a victim is moved at Santa Barbara Harbor. (Daniel Dreifuss / Associated Press)
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U.S. Coast Guard searches for victims of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island on Monday afternoon. (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times )
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Dive boat captain Jerry Boylan is brought back to U.S. Coast Guard headquarters at Channel Islands Harbor on Monday in Oxnard. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters arrive back at the U.S. Coast Guard Station after battling the fire. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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The captain of the Grape Escape boat, which rescued survivors of a boat fire off the Channel Islands, looks on near the U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard on Monday. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
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Firefighters battle a blaze on a dive boat near Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department)
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A diving boat fire near Santa Cruz Island off the Ventura County coast. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department)
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The dive boat Conception is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the vessel off the Southern California Coast. (Santa Barbara County)
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The dive boat Conception seen at dawn Monday burns off Santa Cruz Island. (Santa Barbara County Fire)
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Conception, the boat that caught fire off Ventura County. (Truth Aquatics)
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