An old college buddy of mine (the ex-CIA guy) is a diver and goes on at least one dive trip somewhere around world each year. He said that years ago, he booked a dive trip on this same boat out in California. He said he would never do it again, because, as he described it, it was a disaster waiting to happen.
As you can see from the diagram below, the 'guest' quarters was a single, large cabin which slept up to 46 people (this could have been an even bigger disaster). There was only a single narrow stairway and a single hatch to get out of the cabin. The reason that the crew members all survived is because they slept on the lounge furniture on deck.
Note that I'm NOT a diver. Heck, swimming to me is staying alive while I'm in the water 
Anyway, I figured this background info might help explain why this disaster is turning out the way that it is, at least in terms of why the death toll was so high.
OCU
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