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At least 11 hospitalised after explosion rips through tourist boat at holiday hotspot | News US
Two young children are among more than a dozen people injured after an explosion rocked a tourist boat in Florida.
At least 11 people have been taken to the hospital following the blast on a charter boat in Biscayne Bay, a popular holiday spot near Miami.
One of the children caught in the explosion was scorched by serious burns in their body.
Another adult sustained burns to 30 per cent of his body, the Sun reported.
Emergency crews were called to the scene at 12.50pm on Saturday, where they rescued passengers left in the water in lifeboats.
Other US outlets reported that as many as 15 people were caught in the blast.
The incident occurred at the Haulover Sandbar, a shallow shipping area known for hosting parties at North Miami Beach.
An investigation into the explosion has been opened by the area’s conservation commission.
The cause remains unknown; however, one person onboard the vessel who was not injured suggested the blast was the result of a gas leak.
The Miami Herald reported that fire crews were studying the boat’s fuel tank as a possible source of ignition.
Patrick Lee, a local business owner, said he saw people sent flying after a ‘puff of smoke’.
He told NBC: ‘Somebody pulled up and dropped a bunch of people on that boat, and when we looked back out, we saw three people flying off of the boat and a puff of smoke.
‘It was pretty obvious what it was.’ Mr Lee added he had seen 12 stretchers carrying burnt victims leaving the scene.
Last year, an 18-month-old toddler was left with ‘life-changing burns’ after a fire on a boat in the River Thames that injured nine people.
The boat exploded on the banks of the river in the town of Lechlade, on the edge of Wiltshire, in June.
The toddler was airlifted to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children for urgent medical care, according to Wiltshire999s.
Eight others were taken to the hospital in the aftermath of the blaze, with one airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
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