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California boat fire: Five family members among 34 killed in blaze

Five members of the same family are believed to be among the 34 passengers killed after a dive boat caught fire and sank off the coast of California.

Rescue workers have so far retrieved 20 bodies and located five more, but a search for survivors has been called off .

Susana Rosas, of Stockton, posted on Facebook that her three daughters, their father and his wife were on board the 75ft (22 metre) commercial scuba diving boat Conception when it went down.

"It is with a broken heart… 3 of our daughters were on this boat. As of now they are still missing.

"My #1, Evanmichel Solano Quitasol, my #3, NicoleStorm Quitasol and my #4, Angela Rose Quitasol. My girls' dad Michel Storm Quitasol and step mom were also on the boat.

"We are getting the latest information from the media. The authorities do not have much to say to us. Thank you to all of you for your support prayers and good wishes."

Another passenger, Santa Cruz marine biologist and veteran diver Kristy Finstad, 41, was identified in a Facebook post by her brother, Brett Harmeling.

"Please pray for my sister Kristy!! She was leading a dive trip on this boat," he wrote.

Pacific Scuba Divers said in a post on their website that a long-time member, Scott Chan, and his daughter were also on board the Conception.

The boat had been anchored near Santa Cruz Island, off the coast of Santa Barbara, when the fire broke out just after 3am local time on Monday.

Four crew members and the captain, who had been awake on the upper deck, were able to escape and jump into the sea before being rescued by another boat.

The Conception was around 59ft (18 metres) offshore when it sank in 64ft (19 metres) of water while crews tried to extinguish the fire, Captain Monica Rochester of the Coast Guard said.

It had left at 4am on Saturday for a three-day diving trip and was scheduled to return at 5pm on Monday.

The vessel was scheduled to visit San Miguel, a rarely visited island with a variety of interesting sea life including anemones, crabs and nudibranchs.

It was operated by Worldwide Diving Adventures, a respected Santa Barbara-based company that says on its website it has been taking divers on such expeditions since 1972.