Four bodies were recovered and 29 people are still missing after a boat was destroyed by a fire off the coast of California.

The US Coast Guard says five people were on board the commercial diving boat Conception when they were rescued.

They say that the fire started in the early hours of today just metres off Santa Cruz Island.

Coastguard services overheard a may-day call saying that the boat was engulfed in flames.

They also stated that  firefighters were unable to board the vessel as the flames had already taken hold of the boat and those that were rescued may have been sleeping in the main cabin of the boat rather than below.

The vessel sank 20 yards off the north shore of Santa Cruz Island, at a depth of 64ft and the search team are still continuing their search for the 29 missing people.

BBC

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