The confirmed death toll from a blaze that engulfed a converted warehouse during a weekend dance party in California has risen to 36, with officials saying they are certain to find more bodies.
What sparked the fire, which erupted late on Friday in a sprawling two-storey building that housed an artists' collective, has yet to be determined, but authorities were believed to be examining possible safety violations at the site, which was already being investigated for reports of illegal construction.
An "area of interest" on the ground floor has been identified and is yet to be reached, according to Sergeant Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
He declined to elaborate, although authorities said their first priority remained the recovery of victims and support for their loved ones.
"We are no closer to finding the cause, and we absolutely believe that the number of fire fatalities will increase," Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton told a news conference at the site.
Authorities have said arson was not immediately suspected.
The nature of the fire has raised questions about whether building code violations might have been a factor. City officials have said the warehouse, known locally as the Ghost Ship, was under scrutiny for complaints of illegal construction inside, and that an inspector visited the property on November 17.
The first floor of the building, which housed a group of artists who called themselves the Satya Yuga Collective, was a cluttered warren of partitioned studio spaces and rooms crammed with furniture, musical instruments, antiques, sculptures, wall-hangings and rugs, according to photos posted on social media before the fire and accounts of survivors and city officials.
Two recreational vehicles believed to have been used as living quarters and work space was found parked on the ground floor inside, Kelly said.
The dance party was held on the second floor, which partially collapsed when the roof gave way in the fire.
The building lacked sprinklers or smoke detectors, and a makeshift stairway between the first and second floors was at least partly constructed from wooden pallets, officials said. The structure, which occupied about half a city block, had just two exterior doorways.
The recovery of three more bodies from the charred ruins brought the official fatality count to three dozen, a tally that made it the deadliest blaze in the United States since 100 people perished in a 2003 nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
Share
