Related videos:
Two survivors of the explosion that shook a vessel at the Haulover Sandbar in Miami over the weekend shared exclusively with Telemundo 51 the terrifying moments they experienced during the incident.
One of the injured women summed up the experience in a devastating phrase: "I was born again".
The explosion occurred on Saturday, May 9, during the Mother's Day weekend, aboard the vessel "Naughty Neighbors," registered in Sherman, Texas, while it was in Biscayne Bay, near Haulover Sandbar, in Miami-Dade.
The emergency call was received at 12:48 p.m. and triggered a massive response: more than 25 emergency units were deployed, including the fireboat Fireboat 21, Ocean Rescue units, agents from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and the Coast Guard.
The incident was classified as a Level 2 Mass Casualty Event by the Miami-Dade Fire Department, which initially reported 15 people hospitalized, a number that later reports adjusted to 11 injured.
Among the identified victims is Adriana Rojas, who was celebrating Mother's Day on board and was transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with second-degree burns on her legs, buttocks, chest, left arm, and left side of her body.
Her husband, Anthony Torres, recounted the anguish of receiving a call in which she was screaming: "Help me! I'm burned! The boat exploded!"
At least one adult suffered burns on more than 30% of their body, and one pediatric victim sustained severe burns and a compound fracture of the femur, being the most serious case among children.
At least three people were thrown off the vessel by the force of the explosion, according to the charter captain Patrick Lee, a witness to the incident.
The likely cause of the explosion was the accumulation of high-octane gasoline vapors in the bilge, which ignited when attempting to start the engine without following the basic safety protocol: opening the hatches and activating the extraction fans before igniting the engine.
The spokesperson for the FWC, Melissa Brevik, confirmed that the cause remains under investigation, although she noted that "preliminary information indicates that a charter vessel carrying several passengers was in Biscayne Bay, near Haulover Sandbar, when an explosion occurred on board."
The incident occurs against a backdrop of rising concerns about maritime safety in South Florida: in May 2025, eleven people were injured in a similar explosion in Fort Lauderdale, where 29-year-old Joshua Fifi died days later from third-degree burns covering 70% of his body.
Florida recorded 685 boating accidents in 2024, resulting in 81 fatalities — the deadliest year since 2019 — with Miami-Dade topping the list with 75 incidents, according to data from the FWC.
Sixty-five percent of the operators involved in fatal accidents in the state that year lacked formal education or training in navigation, a fact that authorities consider crucial for understanding the recurrence of tragedies like the one at Haulover Sandbar.
Filed under: