New details revealed in possible boat explosion in Miami injuring 11

Suspected boat explosion injures 11 in Miami

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Miami’s Haulover Sandbar, the location of the blast.

US authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion on board a boat that injured 11 people in Miami, southern Florida.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Juan Arias told reporters that emergency crews responded to reports of a “possible boat explosion” at Haulover Sandbar, a popular tourist location.

Eleven people were taken to local hospitals to be treated for burns and traumatic injuries, Arias said.

Officials have not revealed the cause of the explosion. The BBC has approached Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue for further details.

“We saw three people fly out of the boat,” eyewitness and local boat charter Patrick Lee told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

“I just saw a lot of them with burns all over them, and I said that it’s a hot fire,” Lee added. “It is quick, but it’s high octane gasoline, and so a lot of them got burnt and it was an explosion.”

Videos from the scene appear to show a helicopter landing close to the Miami marina with emergency teams carrying at least one injured person on a stretcher.

Fire and rescue teams were joined by the US coast guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation in responding to the incident.

Haulover Sandbar is billed as a popular tourist marina in Miami, owing to its clear and shallow water.

A horrific boat explosion in South Florida waters left 11 people, including a child, hospitalized for severe burns and other traumatic injuries Saturday.

Over 25 Miami-Dade fire rescue units along with the US Coast Guard arrived at the scene after repeated calls of a boat blast near the Haulover Sandbar, a bustling tourist hotspot in Miami, came in around 12:48 p.m., officials said.

A child suffered burns on 18% of his body, and an adult was burned on roughly 30% of his frame, the Miami Herald reported.

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A boat explosion in Miami sent 15 people to the hospital Saturday afternoon, as over 25 fire rescue units were dispatched to the scene.WSVN 7

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The blast happened near the Haulover Sandbar, a bustling tourist hotspot in Miami, came in around 12:48 p.m., officials saidWSVN 7Officials designated the incident as a Level 2 Mass Casualty Incident due to the number of victims. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue originally claimed 15 poeple were hospitalized, but later reduced the number of casualties to 11.

Victims, many of whom were stranded in the water, were transported on lifeboats to nearby fuel docks before being rushed to a local hospital, according to dispatch audio.

Air rescue teams also transported people to safety.

A witness who claimed he was on the boat that exploded – a 40-foot Press Cruiser 4400 Express named Nauti Nabor from Texas – told the outlet that a gas leak had caused the blast.

“It was the worst experience of my life,” the man, who was identified only as Leo, said.

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The boat that exploded was identified as a 40-foot Press Cruiser 4400 Express named Nauti Nabor from Texas, according to a witness.WSVN 7
Fire crews said the explosion may have come from the boat’s fuel tank; its captain was not injured in the blast.

Local Tiki boat operator Patrick Lee said he saw people being thrown off the boat with severe burns as he was transporting customers onto his own vessel.

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Fire crews said the explosion may have come from the boat’s fuel tank.WSVN 7

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Passengers were thrown from the vessel with severe burns, a local tiki boat operator who witnessed the disaster said.Local 10“When we looked back out, we saw three people being thrown off the boat in a puff of smoke,” he told the Miami Herald. A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesperson reminded the community to proiritize safety during boating season in a statement.

“Make sure your vessel is equipped with a working fire extinguisher and all required safety equipment,” the spokesperson said.