Body cam shows officers rescuing boaters after their boat explodes near Sarasota
By: Sarasota police officers were able to rescue six people, including two that were stranded in the water, after a boat explosion, body camera footage shows.
Authorities received a report at around 4:45 p.m. of a boat explosion near Longboat Key, west of New Pass bridge, a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told 10 Tampa Bay.
Multiple agencies, including the FWC, U.S. Coast Guard, Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and Fire Rescue and Sarasota Police Department, responded and arrived at the scene.
Body camera footage from an officer with the police department shows him arriving at the area where two men were seen in a body of water next to other people on a boat.
One of the people in the water told the police officer that the other man had back injuries due to the explosion.
"His back is hurt, so I'm not sure how to bring him over," the uninjured man told the police officer.
Body camera video then shows the officer pulling out a ladder from his boat to bring the hurt man onto it, who struggles to hop on. The other man rescued was also brought onboard the police officer's boat.
The injured man was taken to shore to receive medical attention from Sarasota Fire Rescue, the video shows.
There were four other people on the boat that exploded, but they were able to make it back to shore on that same boat. As they returned to land, one of the men on the boat was put on a stretcher, body camera video shows.
FWC said all six passengers aboard the 24-foot-long Yellowfin boat were accounted for and taken to a nearby hospital. At this time, authorities have not yet revealed the condition of each person.