8 bodies now recovered from sunk California diving boat

Eight bodies have now been recovered from a sunk scuba diving boat off a Southern California island.

The first four other bodies were discovered on the ocean floor near the vessel, named Conception, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

The boat had nearly 40 people on board when the fire erupted, Brown said.

The fire broke out aboard the Conception, a 75-foot (23-metre) boat, at about 3:15 a.m. while it was moored just off the shore of Santa Cruz Island, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.

Five crew members aboard escaped the fire while the passengers slept in the ship’s lower quarters, officials said.