All six crew members were asleep aboard a scuba diving boat off the Southern California coast when a fire broke out in the middle of the night, killing 34 people who were trapped in a bunkroom below the main deck, federal investigators said Thursday.
Boats like the Conception, which caught fire around 3 a.m. on Sept. 2 and sank, are required to have a crew member keep watch at night.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the tragedy and released a two-page preliminary report that said five crew members were sleeping in their quarters behind the wheelhouse on the second deck and another below deck when the fire broke out.