2 killed, 3 hurt when boat catches fire near Los Angeles

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Two women were killed and another woman and two men were hospitalized with burns after a weekend fire on a pleasure boat in Long Beach, California, authorities said.

The blaze was reported around 5:15 p.m. Saturday on a 35-foot motorboat near a fuel dock in Alamitos Bay, the Long Beach Fire Department said.

Video from the scene showed firefighters spraying water on the flames that engulfed the rear of the vessel, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

The fire sent up a black plume of smoke that could be seen and smelled from throughout the marina area that is about 30 miles (48 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

All of those killed and injured were in their 60s, Fire Capt. Jake Heflin told the newspaper. Their identities were not immediately released.

The cause of the fire was under investigation Sunday.

The wreckage of the boat was towed to an isolation dock to prevent environmental damage from leaking fuel, Heflin said.