Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Sheriff: Dive Boat Victims Killed by Smoke, Not Flames

Associated Press

   SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - Dozens of people trapped on a scuba diving
   boat that caught fire off the Southern California coast appear to have
   died from smoke inhalation, not burns, authorities said Friday.

   "The indicators are from the preliminary examination of the bodies that
   the victims died prior to being burned,'' Santa Barbara County Sheriff
   Bill Brown said. "The burn damage to the victims was post-mortem.''

   More than half the 34 people killed as they slept in bunks below deck
   early Monday have been positively identified through DNA, and their
   family members around the world are being notified, Brown told
   reporters. Divers are searching for the one body that still has not
   been found.

   Five crew members jumped overboard after trying to rescue the 33 scuba
   divers and one crew member whose escape routes were blocked by fire,
   federal authorities and the boat's owner said. The crew, including the
   captain, said they were driven back by flames, smoke and heat.

   Multiple investigations into the disaster are focused on determining
   what happened and have not become a criminal probe, though Brown said
   charges are possible.

   Notifying families that their loved ones were aboard the Conception and
   gathering DNA to identify remains burned beyond recognition has taken
   an extraordinary worldwide effort.

   A mother in Japan was told Thursday that her child was on the boat. The
   FBI also had to deliver the news to a family in Singapore and relatives
   from India who flew into California, Brown said.

   The remains of 18 people have been positively identified, and the
   sheriff released the names of nine whose families have been notified.

.