Page 31 - Escape Hatch News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> reporter: well, i can show you a few things, dana. this vision is a near replica of the boat that sank. the crew went to bet around 2:00 in the morning -- bed around 2:00 in the morning weekend the wheelhouse but one hour later someone heard a noise and noticed the flame but could not get down to the gallie area and couldn't enter from the back door and couldn't get in from the front windows. again, the passengers were below basically the black line. they could not get out because of the flames. i want to show you some ntsb video from a tour they took. number one, the area you see now that ...

Area below deck, a small staircase, and the one tiny escape hatch, likely focus for families making a legal claim against the owner for liability and negligence. >> arguments will be made about the layout of the vessel, the configuration of it, and what kind of safety it provided to the passengers sleeping below decks in the event of an emergency. that is certainly something i would look at. >> basically, at this point in time, i saw in the "los angeles times" that the ntsb board member told them that she went down to that bunk room and was "taken aback by how small that hatch was." i am told ...

Asleep when the fire broke out and quickly became trapped by flesel deck. >> there was a stairwell to get down the main entryway, up and down, and there was an escape hatch, and it would appear as though both of those were blocked by fire. >> reporter: while those escape routes were open, authorities don't believe the victims had a chance. in a gut-wrenching social media post, mother susana solano rosas says, "it is with a broken heart, three of our daughters were on this boat. as of now, they are still missing." another woman says her sister was the lone crew member who did not survive. >> sh...

Reports, there are lots of questions about what happened. >> reporter: dramatic new video from the california coast guard shows the battle to save the dive boat off senate cruz island as rescue crews suspend the search for survivors. >> it is never an easy decision to suspend search efforts. >> reporter: 39 people were aboard the ship as an inferno took hold in the early morning hours. family members now being asked for dna samples to help identify the victims as body bags are brought ashore. investigators say many were believed to be in bed at the time. this video shows the ship's tight sleep...

Been blocked. i mean, nobody got out except for the people who were already on the deck where they could just jump off the side. >> all we've heard is that of course that they must have had some sort of fire fighting gear on the boat, and of course they must have had an escape hatch, but somehow they weren't able to access those. is it possible in your mind that the fire just came up so fast that the crew couldn't do anything? >> i just imagine them sleeping and the fire -- having to wake up to the fire. you know, i can't imagine not trying to save all those people down there or attempting to ...