July 2 (UPI) — An American tourist is dead and several people injured after a charter boat exploded in the Bahamas on Saturday morning.
The incident occurred off the coast of Exuma, an island about 130 miles from Nassau. Twelve passengers were on the boat, including 10 Americans and two Bahamians, WPLG-TV reported.
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Royal Bahamas Police Force in airlifting four of the Americans on the boat to Florida.
Chester Cooper, a member of the Bahamian Parliament, confirmed that the person who died was an American woman, CNN reported.
“This is a sad day for Exuma and a sad day for our American friends. We are saddened and our hearts are hurting, but we will get through this together,” Cooper said in a Facebook post.
A video of the incident was posted to Youtube on Sunday. It was recorded from aboard another boat in the vicinity and shows some passengers jumping into the water to swim to the boat that exploded to help survivors while several people urge the captain to move the boat further away from the fire.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
