4 people, including 2 children, remain hospitalized weeks after Memorial Day boat explosion in Fort Lauderdale, doctors say
Four people, including two children, remained hospitalized, officials said, more than two weeks after a boat exploded near a popular Fort Lauderdale sandbar on Memorial Day.
A survivor of the explosion, alongside a team of doctors with the Miami Burn Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday to provide updates on the four burn victims, consisting of two adults and two children.
As of Wednesday morning, one child remains in serious condition while the other is stable. As for the adults, one of them remains in critical condition, doctors said.
A fiery explosion that killed 1 person, sent nearly a dozen to the hospital
Loved ones said the explosion was the result of a fluke accident.
Around 5:45 p.m. on Memorial Day, a 39-foot-long Sea Ray boat exploded near 9th Street in Fort Lauderdale, where a sandbar draws boaters and beachgoers on holiday weekends. According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the boat was anchored during the explosion.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed that 15 people were on board at the time of the incident. A video of the explosion shows the moment the fire ignited, followed by people jumping into the water moments later. Ten people, including the two children, were taken to JMH's burn unit for treatment.
One of the victims, 28-year-old Joshua Fifi, died after spending four days in the hospital while being treated for third-degree burns over 70% of his body.
Authorities said the explosion likely stemmed from a gas leak or vapors that ignited during refueling, but the cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
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