MIAMI (WSVN) - The son of a victim of an explosion that sent 11 people to the hospital is speaking out about what led up to the horrifying incident and is pointing to a likely culprit.
Adrian’s mother, Adriana Rojas Torres, was aboard the Nauti Neighbors on Saturday afternoon when the explosion sent 11 people to the hospital.
Speaking to 7News on Tuesday, Adrian said he believes a lighter used by his mother to light a birthday cake was likely what sparked the explosion.
“Apparently when they turned the lighter on to celebrate the happy birthday, that’s when the boat exploded,” he said. “She was the one that was [going to] turn the lighter on, and she couldn’t turn it on, cause of the wind or whatever. Somebody else came in, and when that person turned the lighter on, that’s when the boat exploded.”
While there is no official cause for the explosion yet, Adrian said the blast left his mother with severe burns.
Rojas Torres, along with other victims, was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. As of late Tuesday, she remains in the hospital.
“I don’t think she can walk yet, she’s still in a lot of pain. She gets like dizzy and lightheaded,” said Adrian, “Second degree. Not too worried, but also worried because you don’t know the whole condition. She’s still feeling better, her spirits are good, better than yesterday for sure.”
On Monday, Ruth Gutierrez, another boat blast survivor, said she could smell gasoline moments before the blast.
Her daughter, Samantha Depena, stood next to her and translated her mother’s words.
“She don’t know because the only thing that she remembered was that they were singing Happy Birthday, and she said about the smell, and a couple of minutes after, everything exploded,” said Depena,
Gutierrez suffered burns to her arm, back, and hair in the explosion.
Depena said that she was in Port St. Lucie when one of her mother’s friends told her what happened.
“And knowing I couldn’t do anything for her, it was, it was bad,” she said.
Another survivor of the boat explosion, Paola Scott, was also hospitalized in the blast. Paola’s husband, Jim, shared his recollection of the incident on Monday.
“I got a call on Saturday evening about 6, 6:30, because I was wondering, ‘Where in the heck is she at? She’d have been back home by now,” said Jim.
Paola told him she was at the hospital and that the police were there.
“She has burns over 50 percent of her body, and the last I heard from her was that they were giving her physical therapy,” he said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is still investigating to find out the cause of the explosion.
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