8 Injured in Southern California Power Boat Blast

An explosion aboard a 26-foot power boat in an Orange County harbor left eight of the nine people aboard injured.

Huntington Beach Fire Capt. Bob Culhane tells the Orange County Register the boat was just a few minutes into a trip to Long Beach when the driver noticed gasoline leaking.

The boat then immediately exploded in the middle of Huntington Harbour and eight people ended up in the water. Some were thrown by the blast, others jumped. A sheriff’s boat and a private vessel rescued them and a lifeguard boat helped douse the flames.

Culhane says the injured were taken to hospitals with bruises, scrapes and broken bones.

The boat was destroyed, sending a sky-high plume of black smoke and filling the harbor with the smell of burning plastic.