There was an explosion this evening at the tourism village. At approximately 4:15 – the Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association’s “Mr. Wolf” had just refuelled and when Captain Roberto Rosado turned the key to the ignition – there was a spark and then it exploded – ripping out the boat’s center console. Only the captain and his sideman were onboard. Surveillance video obtained by 7NEWS shows the entire incident and why the captain and his sideman should feel lucky to still be alive. Keith Swift has the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The surveillance video obtained by 7NEWS shows the force of the explosion lifting the boat’s captain Roberto Rosado into the air at 4:14 pm. Thirty seconds later there was another explosion - this
one flinging his sideman Shaun August. It occurred in split seconds.
James Nisbet, Operations Manager – Tourism Village
“At approximately 4:20 we got a call from the security on the dock saying that there is some kind of problem at the fuel station. We came out and we saw what looked like smoke but we further learned that it was the fire extinguishers that were being used. I believe it is a water taxi vessel had completed refuelling. Since the terminal was closed, the particular ship that was using this terminal today had already left and that is when we allowed refuelling to commence. These boats are preparing for tomorrow.
We understand, and it is still
unconfirmed, that the boat had refuelled and it was on its way to move off, the captain turned his key and there was a spark from somewhere underneath the console and that ignited some vapors, fuel vapors we are guessing, and caused some kind of combustion. It not necessarily exploded but it ripped the center console off the boat. In the process the captain was thrown inside the boat and he has now gone to the hospital to get properly evaluated. Other than that there was nobody else that got hurt. There were no tourists around.”
Keith Swift,
So a fire engine responded?
James Nisbet,
“Oh yes, they were here in a matter of minutes. They were here quickly but by the time they got here, we had already curtained off the area and they basically came and did a threat evaluation and there was none so they handed it over to the Port Authority.”
The boat “Mr. Wolf” belongs to the Caye Water Taxi Association.
Hector Alpuche, Manager
“This was an unfortunate accident. The boat which is one of the boats
that we use, it is for one of our members, and it went to refuel and when it was refuelling apparently some thing, sometimes you have shorts that happen or corrosion, we don’t what it was, we will be investigating. But after it refuelled then they had a little explosion on it. Good for us, it was refuelling and there wasn’t any passenger or anybody but the captain and the sideman.”
Keith Swift,
What is the condition of the captain right now?
Hector Alpuche,
“What happened is that they are just a little bit shaken up and with the explosion, they were lifted off the ground, he says about six feet. Well that is the most of it, they are taking x-rays but it is nothing major.”
Mr. Wolf is now in the hands of the Port Authority which has initiated an investigation. The captain and its sideman are recovering. Again no tourists were onboard or in the vicinity. Mr. Wolf was used to ferry passengers for the Carnival Legend which had already departed at the time it exploded.
