Bahamas boat explosion kills US tourist and injures nine others
An American tourist who was killed when a boat exploded in the Bahamas, was celebrating her 15th wedding anniversary, authorities said.
Maleka Jackson, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was with her husband when the vessel carrying them along with 10 American tourists and two crew members was engulfed in flames.
Her husband was hospitalised with burns.
Stefanie Schaffer, a 22-year-old US national had to have both legs amputated, her family told CBS News.
The boat was just a few minutes into a half-day wildlife explosion when the fire started, a passenger told the US broadcaster.
The Exuma branch of the Royal Bahamas Police Force is still reportedly investigating the incident to determine what caused the boat’s engine to explode.
“Maleka would be I guess what I call a shooting star,“ her father Malvin Grimes said. ”She had a life that kind of stayed straight on the course and it was a life that brought a lot of joy and a lot of support and love into the lives of others.“
Ms Schaffer’s uncle, Mike Schaffer, told CBS News that his niece was put in a medically induced coma, before doctors amputated her limbs.
Her mother, Stacey, also "fractured lower right leg, a shattered left ankle that is going to require surgery, a fractured right wrist, at least 2 broken ribs, and a contusion on her lungs,” her brother wrote in a Facebook post.
In a statement published to Facebook, Exumas and Ragged Island parliament member Chester Cooper wrote that it was a "sad day for Exuma" on the day of the explosion.
"This is a sad day for Exuma and a sad day for our American friends," the statement read in part. "We are saddened and our hearts are hurting, but we will get through this together..."
