Some people managed to text loved ones goodbye and "I love you" before they died in an Oakland warehouse fire that claimed three dozen lives, officials said, as heart-rending reports of victims' last moments emerged from the most lethal building fire in the U.S. in more than a decade.
Also Monday, the painful and exhaustive search for those killed in the fire appeared to be coming to a close. Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern told The Associated Press that he didn't believe there would be additional bodies found.
But he cautioned that it was "impossible to be absolutely positive" about the number killed until the entire recovery effort is complete. Authorities had gone through about three-quarters of the building by Monday afternoon.
Officials said they would turn next to investigating the fire, which erupted late Friday during a dance party. It's unclear how it started. The district attorney warned of possible murder charges as she determines whether there were any crimes linked to the blaze.
"We owe it to the community and those who perished in this fire, and those who survived the fire to be methodical, to be thorough, and to take the amount of time it takes to be able to look at every piece of potential evidence," Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said.
Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said that some of the victims texted relatives, "I'm going to die," and "I love you."
Rescue crews found bodies of people "protecting each other, holding each other," Kelly said.
Monday night, hundreds of people holding candles and flowers honoured those who died in the fire at a vigil at Oakland's Lake Merritt.
The cluttered warehouse had been converted to artists' studios and illegal living spaces, and former denizens said it was a death trap of piled wood, furniture, snaking electrical cords and only two exits.
The warehouse is owned by Chor N. Ng, her daughter Eva Ng told the Los Angeles Times. She said the warehouse was leased as studio space for an art collective and was not being used as a dwelling.
"We are also trying to figure out what's going on like everybody else," the family wrote in a statement to KNTV. "Our condolences go out to the families and friends of those injured and those who lost their lives."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said city officials are putting together a record of what they knew about the property.
Authorities have identified 22 victims and notified their families, city officials said. An additional 11 victims have been tentatively identified, and three victims need "scientific identification," they said.