by Julia Pierrepont III, Gao Shan and Tan Jingjing

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- In response to multiple U.S. media reports that 25 bodies from Monday's Southern California boat fire have been found, the county of Santa Barbara confirmed Monday night that there are more victims.

A verification will be made by the County Coroner's Bureau with additional information to be released at a press conference on Tuesday morning, according to the county.

The AP reported earlier that the Coast Guard said that the 25 people who died have been located and nine people remain unaccounted for. But the Los Angeles Times also quoted the Coast Guard officials as saying that the bodies of at least 15 people have been found.

Local officials said Monday afternoon that eight people have been confirmed dead and four bodies recovered by authorities, with 26 people still missing from the tragic pre-dawn boat fire on the Conception near Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Santa Barbara.

The four bodies were identified as two adult males and two adult females, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told a press briefing. He said rescue and recovery efforts have located four additional victims on the ocean floor near the vessel, and a diving team is working in the water attempting to recover their remains.

He confirmed that the 75-foot (23-meter), three-story commercial diving vessel erupted into flames at approximately 3:15 a.m. (1015 GMT) and sunk at 7:20 a.m. (1420 GMT), after a determined effort by the Coast Guard and Ventura County Fire Department fire fighters to quench the blaze.

Brown also reported that the sunken craft was still dangerously unstable, hindering the search and rescue operation and making it more dangerous and time-consuming for the Coast Guard rescue divers on the scene.

The cause of the incident is under investigation and names are being withheld pending notification of kin.

In a phone interview with Xinhua, Lieutenant Erik Rainey of Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office said they are initiating a "death investigation."

Intense search and rescue efforts will go on all day and night, said U.S. Coast Guard Los Angeles-Long Beach Sector Commander Captain Monica Rochester, while also preparing everyone for the worst.

"We all should be prepared to move into the worst outcome," Rochester told reporters.

"Our hearts are with the families and loved ones affected by this tragic incident. As we wait to hear more, we are eternally grateful for our heroic first responders that are on site -- working to ensure every individual is found," a statement shared by Californian Governor Gavin Newsom read on Twitter regarding the boat fire.

Conception is one of three dive boats operated by Truth Aquatics, a Santa Barbara-based company founded in 1974.

The boat set out from Santa Barbara on Saturday for a three-day holiday weekend diving excursion, during which a local source reported three birthday celebrations took place onboard, including that of a 17-year old girl who had come to dive with her parents.

Tina Martino, who works at the marina fueling boats and manning the concession hut on the pier, told Xinhua, "Conception is a sport boat that charters out of Santa Barbara. They take people out to fish or dive and sleep on the water."

"It's just so messed up that they were all civilians who died in their bunks," she said.

The Los Angeles Times also reported an eyewitness, Bob Hansen, as saying, "As it was burning, there would be explosions going off every couple of minutes. It was probably some of the dive tanks exploding. It made me feel so helpless."

"It's weird to wake up to get ready to BBQ and have a good time and find our small town community full of news media outlets talking about this terrible tragedy," said a man who identified himself as Victor, a local resident of the quiet seaside community of Oxnard, site to some of the body recovery work going on in the wake of the tragic early morning boating fire.

"It's really sad," he added. "We still don't know what happened, who the victims are, and who's missing."

The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles confirmed with Xinhua that there was no report of Chinese citizens on the boat. Enditem

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