A spark ignited gas fumes in the engine area of a boat at Millstone Marina in Gravois Mills, Missouri, causing an explosion that injured 16 people, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported. The explosion, which happened on Friday, resulted in injuries of varying severity, from minor to moderate.
The victims, whose ages span from 6 to 43, were mostly on the boat, with one individual injured on the dock. The explosion was so powerful that it ejected three people from the boat.
Photographs released by the Missouri State Highway Patrol depict a scene of chaos, with glass fragments littering the boat and visible damage to its side, especially near the stern.
This incident is the latest in a series of accidents at the Lake of the Ozarks. Just a few weeks ago, a boat ran aground and crashed into a house, injuring eight people. The boat, a 2014 Nortech, ejected all its passengers during the crash. The passengers ranged in age from 21 to 51.
The driver of the boat, Adam Ramirez, 47, of Huntington Beach, California, was arrested and charged with BWI with serious injury. He was later released for medical treatment.
Earlier in July, a small plane crashed in a wooded area near the lake, resulting in the death of two of the three occupants and serious injury to the third.