One person is dead and five are injured after a boat exploded in a Florida marina.
The incident was caught on camera just before 6 p.m on Monday. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue responded to multiple 911 calls reporting the explosion at the Lauderdale Marina.
After one boat exploded, the fire that originated from the vessel spread to a second.
Three out of five victims were transported to nearby hospitals with traumatic injuries. The two others were transported as well but it’s unclear what their conditions were. Divers searched the water for one person who went missing after the blast. That person was later confirmed deceased, officials with the Broward Sheriff’s Office told NBC News.
Multiple agencies are investigating the cause of the explosion, including the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the US Coast Guard, the outlet reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blast. Once the vessels are removed from the water and examined, authorities will be able to determine what happened, fire officials said.
Boat explosion and fire occurred at a Fort Lauderdale marina around 5:55 PM. Several people were injured.
— David Vergel (@DavidVergel97) December 24, 2024
Footage is courtesy of EarthCam. pic.twitter.com/ZbvUKqhymJ
Footage of the incident was caught on EarthCam set up at the marina. It shows the moment the boat exploded and people running around in the aftermath.
One woman whose family was on a boat behind the one that exploded told NBC News she thought the incident sounded like a firecracker going off. “We saw a lot of smoke,” Maria Sanz told the outlet. “I was screaming, screaming, screaming, and they told us we had to get out right away.”
Still, her family tried rescuing people from the water, even when the fire spread to her family’s boat.
“My cousin was kneeling in front of the boat, so I ran to her and I saw that she was holding on to a girl, and the girl was kind of drowning,” Sanz told NBC. “She was trying to put her head up so she wouldn’t drown.”
When Sanz turned around, she saw another victim in the water and tried to throw him a rope, according to the outlet.
“I saw that a guy was kind of fighting, trying not to drown,” she continued. “I got off the boat, ran to the dock and started throwing a rope and I was screaming.”
That’s when the fire neared her family’s vessel.
“It started coming towards us, so the front part and side were starting to get on fire while we were still trying to get these people out of the water,” said Sanz.
