On December 23, 2024, a tragic incident occurred at Lauderdale Marina in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida, killing one person and injuring five.
Around 6 p.m., a 37-foot boat near the fuel docks exploded, igniting a fire that spread to another vessel. The power of the explosion drove the boat's upper section into the air, where it fell back down.
In a media statement, Deputy Fire Chief Garret Pingol said:
“A boat explodes. There’s a boat on fire and there were people on the water... In conjunction with Broward Sheriff’s Office law enforcement, multiple dive teams are in the water and are searching multiple potential areas where the person might be missing"
Pingol also mentioned that they were able to access the video from the dock of the boat that helped them in their rescue operations. He said:
“We were able to access video from the boat dock, find some last-seen points and make our best effort to conduct a dive operation.”
Emergency personnel took five people to area hospitals, three of whom suffered catastrophic injuries. According to Local 10 News, the hunt for the missing person ended when divers from the Broward Sheriff's Office discovered a body later identified as 41-year-old Sebastien Gauthier of Quebec, Canada.
The explosion and accompanying fires were captured on security film, showing how severe the situation was. According to 6 South Florida, police are currently looking into the cause of the explosion.
The inquiry involves several agencies, including the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, the Broward Sheriff's Office, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the United States Coast Guard.
What witnesses had to say about the South Florida boat accident
According to Local 10 News, the explosion in South Florida was recorded by both onlookers and a nearby webcam, capturing the intense flames and dense smoke that was visible from a considerable distance.
Tamer Dimiati, a person who works at a nearby restaurant and also helped in the operations noted:
“That boat is completely gone. After that, I ran out there to see if anybody needed help. One guy was on fire, another person was in the water. It was just chaos all at once.”
Another witness named Nate Hall said:
“I turned around, and the whole dock was on fire,”
Janet Lamp, a resident who lives closeby to the docks said:
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“It was a different kind of smell, not a regular smoke smell,”
Authorities said that at this stage, it's premature to determine the exact cause of the explosion. A thorough investigation of the South Florida incident will be conducted once the vessels are retrieved and examined in detail.
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