Officials have identified the person who died after a boat explosion Monday in Fort Lauderdale that also injured seriously several people. NBC6’s Kim Wynne reports
Officials have identified the person who died after a boat explosion Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that also seriously injured several people.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials confirmed Sebastien Gauthier, 41, of Quebec, died from his injuries.
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The explosion happened just before 6 p.m. at the Lauderdale Marina at 1900 SE 15th Street. Officials said the 37-foot vessel exploded after its engines had been started.
The fire from the explosion spread to another vessel. Video from Chopper6 showed firefighters battling the intense flames.
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Seven people were on the boat, FWC officials confirmed. Six of them were hospitalized, several with serious injuries. Divers searched the water for a final person, who was pronounced deceased.
Surveillance video showed the moments the boat exploded. The fire eventually grew larger and larger and thick black smoke billowed in the sky.
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It's unclear what caused the explosion. The fire is still under investigation.
Maria Sanz told NBC Miami that she and her family were on a boat right behind the one that exploded.
"I thought it was like, a firecracker, but when I turned, it was a boat... We saw a lot of smoke," she recalled. "I was screaming, screaming, screaming, and they told us we had to get out right away."
Hope Dorman and her husband were visiting from Arkansas and said they had to run for their lives.
"We had been there waiting for the water taxi and we saw it coming, so we went over to wait where they stopped," she said. "All of a sudden, it’s like a bomb went off. The boat exploded we took off running, and then the fire exploded and it was just chaos."
