Updated Monday at 6:59 p.m.
Authorities recovered the bodies of four people killed Monday by a raging fire that swept through a commercial scuba diving boat anchored off of Santa Cruz Island in Southern California. More than twenty other passengers remain missing and are feared dead.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll said the four bodies, pulled from the ocean about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, all had injuries consistent with drowning. The bodies of the victims will have to be identified through DNA, according to authorities.
All five of the boat's crew members were rescued after jumping off the 75-foot dive boat when the blaze broke out, according to Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester.
Thirty-three passengers were believed to be sleeping below deck.
The Coast Guard will continue its coast, land and aircraft search-and-rescue operation through the end of Monday and Tuesday morning as they look for survivors along the shoreline.
Federal and local agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner and the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, have joined the investigation.