FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Eleven people were injured, including two children, in an apparent boat explosion at a yacht club in Fort Lauderdale on Memorial Day, according to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.
Officials said the explosion happened sometime before 6 p.m. on Monday at the Lauderdale Yacht Club.
“For reasons that we don’t know yet, a boat exploded. It tossed people into the water. Good Samaritans came over right away and started rescuing them,” Frank Guzman with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said.
Christopher Blackwood was among the witnesses.
“I heard a loud explosion. When I looked at the boat, I seen it was looking like gas vapor, went into the air. I seen people jump in the water. Everybody was yelling for them to get off the boat, and next thing you know, me and my son, we just seen the smoke and the boat drifted all the way over there,” Blackwood said.
According to Guzman, 11 people were transported to Broward Health Medical Center.
Their condition is unknown.
It is unclear what triggered the suspected explosion.
