Survivors of Haulover Beach boat explosion hire high profile law firm to look into the incident
The prominent Orlando-based law firm Morgan and Morgan has been hired to look into a boat explosion that occurred last weekend near Bal Harbour, which left 13 people injured.
Morgan and Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Ryan Will announced that several severely injured patients had retained the firm. The explosion happened around 12:50 p.m. last Saturday afternoon.
The boat, a 39-foot Sea Ray Cabin motorboat, was anchored at the Haulover sandbar with 13 passengers on board, according to a new report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The operator, a 22-year-old man from Pembroke Pines, was not injured as he was tending to an anchor.
In a statement, John Morgan and Ryan Will said that what was "supposed to be a day of fun with family and friends turned into a nightmare". The firm is "examining all possible causes of this explosion, including product failures, refueling errors, and errors within the fuel system that could have caused the accumulation of fuel vapors within the hull". They added, "We believe this catastrophe could have been avoided and will fight to hold all entities that may have contributed to the explosion accountable".
Survivors speak out about the explosion that happened while the group was celebrating a birthday
CBS News Miami spoke with survivors, including Ofelia Hurtado, who is hospitalized at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Hurtado said the group was "taking pictures, celebrating one of the girls' birthdays" when they smelled gasoline fumes.
She recalled saying, "Do you smell gasoline?" but they "didn't pay attention because of the birthday".
The explosion occurred when "one of the girls went to light the candle". Hurtado remembered two "POP" sounds, the first followed by another explosion. She sustained damage to her right leg and fractures in her hip and is scheduled to undergo three surgeries.
Hurtado described the aftermath as traumatizing, stating she saw three to four people in the water screaming, with some who did not know how to swim fearing they would drown. She noted that victims are affected physically and psychologically.
Another survivor, 62-year-old Ruth Gutierrez, said Monday that the boat had been rented for the birthday party and that she also smelled an odor of gasoline before the explosion. Paola Scott of Cooper City was also injured; her husband Jim said she has burns over 50% of her body and will face a long and painful recovery.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, which is also investigating, reported that 11 people were transported to hospitals. FWC stated that the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.
A spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office told CBS News Miami that they are not currently involved in the case, but prosecutors would investigate if other investigative agencies lead them to believe a crime has been committed.