A boat exploded on Saturday noon in the port of Saint-Pierre, leaving one seriously injured and three lightly injured. The cause of the accident remains unknown at this time.
A boat exploded in the Saint-Pierre port of Hyères (Var) on Saturday noon, leaving one seriously injured and three other minor injuries. All the victims were taken to hospital and the fire was quickly brought under control. But the cause of the accident remains unknown.
• What happened ?
Three members of a family from Oise, both parents aged 49 according to France 3, and their 14-year-old daughter, were aboard a motorboat of ten meters and refueling at the port of Saint-Pierre in Hyères on Saturday noon when the engine compartment of the ship exploded.
According to Var-matin, the mother fell in before being able to extract herself from the boat, but she was seriously burned to the upper limbs according to France 3.
“I saw the woman fall into the water because she must have been on the hood when she was ejected,” said a witness to the scene at BFM Var. The young girl jumped into the water during the explosion and the father was also slightly injured.
The burning boat then began to drift into the harbor, damaging two sailboats. About thirty firefighters and three firefighting devices intervened. They first thought about shutting down the boat in the harbor before deciding to tow the wreck out to sea. “The risk was that it would sink and clog and pollute the port. The possibility of taking it out was to avoid any risk of aggravation. Once that was done, the boat ended up being consumed. of himself and start from the bottom, “tells BFM Var Thierry Dahon, firefighter from the departmental rescue center.
• Who are the victims ?
The explosion left one seriously injured and three other minor injuries. The mother of the family was seriously injured and transported in absolute urgency to the Saint-Anne hospital in Toulon specializing in severe burns. More slightly affected, the father and daughter were also taken to this establishment.
As explained Var-Matin, a fifty-year-old employee of the refueling station was hit by the blast of the explosion and transported to Sainte-Musse hospital. Finally, several other people aboard a catamaran which was also filling up during the explosion were slightly injured and treated on the spot.
• Why did the boat explode?
The causes of the explosion are still unknown, it could be a technical problem related to the boat. The explosion took place when the father tried to relight the boat’s engine, after refueling, according to Var-Matin. “It could be that an accumulation of gasoline vapor in the hold of the boat caught fire during the restart, it is very rare. To our knowledge, no one was smoking at the time of refueling,” said Captain Olivier Pécot of SDIS 83 to our colleagues from France 3.
The technical and scientific police went to the site to investigate and try to determine the causes of the explosion. Still according to the local newspaper, it would have nothing to do with the refueling station, which remains closed for the moment.
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