OVER 20 passengers onboard a boat were forced to plunge into the freezing water when their vessel burst into flames.
The group were in the waters off New York City just after 8:30 pm on Saturday when the terrifying explosion took place.
Emergency teams from the Coast Guard, New York Fire Department and New York Police Department all attended the scene near City Island in the Bronx.
Shocking footage of the moment showed the passengers who were all wearing white and apparently partying onboard screaming and shouting as flames licked the back of the boat.
Another angle showed that thick, black smoke was pouring into the sky from the burning vessel.
The FDNY said that three out of 22 people had to be pulled from the water, one in a critical condition.
All remaining passengers desperately swam to a nearby shoreline on Hart Island to escape the flames.
The frozen and terrified survivors were then rescued from there.
“Marine 4 grabbed three people out of the water,” the FDNY said in a statment.
“At that point, they transported them to one of the docks that was close by, where Engine 70 was waiting and EMS was waiting as well to begin CPR on the victims.
“The other 19 folks swam to Hart Island. They were just off the east end of Hart Island, and then they were picked up by the NYPD Coast Guard and FDNY boats and transported back over to the docks at the Yacht Club on City Island.”
In total, 21 people suffered minor injuries and one was more seriously harmed, the police said, per The New York Post.
They noted that the more injured passenger is stable.
Joshua Brito, from the Bronx was driving the boat at the time and has since been arrested.
The 33-year-old has been charged with DWI and reckless endangerment after driving the boat while intoxicated.
He is being arraigned at the Bronx Criminal Court on June 8.
Footage of the arrest shared by The Post showed Brito in shorts and a black t-shirt being cuffed and walked to a cop car later that night.
Victims were also seen being transported to nearby hospitals for medical attention.
An investigation into what caused the fire is ongoing.
“The boat in order to fit that many people on it had to be a pretty decent size boat,” FDNY Assistant Chief Mike Meyers told WABC-TV from the scene.
“Marine 4 did notice them earlier in the evening and they said there was a lot of people on that boat.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14427893/captain-arrested-boat-explosion-nyc/