Victim of Mt. Pleasant boat explosion hospitalized, being treated for burns

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - One of the three victims of a boat explosion and fire at a Mt. Pleasant marina is being treated for burns at a Georgia hospital, the boat owner said Monday.

It happened Sunday night at the Charleston Harbor Resort Marina.

The boat’s owner, David Wilkes, says he and his crew were filling up his boat with gas before the explosion occurred.

Wilkes says a woman who was the most seriously injured was flown to the burn unit in Augusta.

A Florence County sheriff’s deputy who is a friend of Wilkes’ was on the boat and blown into the water by the explosion, according to a sheriff’s office spokesman.

The spokesman says the deputy suffered a separated shoulder.

Wilkes says his girlfriend suffered minor burns and was treated and released from a Charleston hospital.

He says the boat, a 30-foot Sea Ray is a total loss.

The cause of the fire and explosion are under investigation, according to Mt. Pleasant Fire Chief Mike Mixon.