FORT LAUDERDALE — One man died and four others went to hospitals with severe burns and other injuries after a boat exploded in Dania Beach Friday afternoon.
Broward County Sheriff’s Fire Rescue answered calls for help at Nautical Ventures Marina on Ravenswood Road around 4:30 p.m. Chopper 4 saw the vessel sitting on a trailer, with billowing black smoke that was seen from miles away.
Crews delivered the boat to undergo work in preparation for the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, investigators said. As a group of five workers began fueling the boat it exploded, investigators said.
“I was waiting on a table [at Rustic Inn Crabhouse just north of the marina] when we just heard this massive boom,” Bryan Harrison, a server at the Rustic Inn said.
“We felt it, everyone throughout the building,” added Danielle Schmergel, another server.
“Originally, I thought someone hit the boat,” said server Allison Conway.