A dramatic boat explosion at theLauderdale Marinain Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has left one person dead and five others in the hospital, including three with “traumatic” injuries, authorities said.
The blaze initially started on one vessel but soon spread to another, the fire rescue spokesman said.
“We do believe the boat was at the fuel docks near the fuel pumps. We’re still determining whether it was actively fueling, that is unknown," the deputy fire chief, Garrett Pingol, said, according toCBS News.
The tragedy was captured on an EarthCam that had been set up at the marina.EarthCam/Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue/X
EarthCam/Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue/X
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While authorities initially said “several individuals sustained injuries as a result of the explosion and subsequent fire” and there was a report “of a sixth individual who remains unaccounted for in the water,” the fire rescue spokesman said in an update on Dec. 24 that the sixth person’s body had been found in the water.
Their identity was not immediately released.
The fire department also posted videos of the explosion, subsequent blaze and rescue operation to X.
Witnesses at the scene told CBS that “chaos” quickly ensued after the initial blast.
“I felt the vibration through my body," said Nate Hill, while Tamer Dimiati said that he saw “the top half of the boat fly up probably ten feet and come right back down.”
Five people were hospitalized and one killed in the blast.Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue/X
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue/X
Maria Sanz told the outlet that she tried to help a casualty who was drowning while Dimiati said he witnessed a “guy on the boat” who was “stumbling" and “bleeding from his mouth and arm."
“The cause of the initial explosion and subsequent fires remains under investigation. It is too soon as of this writing to speculate as to what the potential cause(s) may have been,” the fire rescue spokesman said in a statement on Dec. 24.
source: people.com
