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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 17 July 2018

Lava crashes through roof of

Hawaii tour boat, injuring 23

By AUDREY McAVOY and event later on shore. where lava flows into the
CALEB JONES "It was immense," he said. "I ocean off the Big Island. It
Associated Press had no idea. We didn't see prohibits vessels from get-
HONOLULU (AP) — An ex- it." ting closer than 984 feet
plosion caused by lava Turpin says that he has (300 meters) from ocean-
oozing into the ocean been observing and docu- entry points.
sent molten rock crashing menting these explosions The agency allows experi-
through the roof of a sight- and that this type of activ- enced boat operators to
seeing boat off Hawaii's Big ity is new. There were no apply for a special license
Island, injuring 23 people warning signs before the to get up to 164 feet (50
Monday, officials said. blast, he said. meters) from where lava
A woman in her 20s was in "There's something new. sizzles into the sea.
serious condition with a bro- There's something really The molten rock is coming
ken thigh bone, the Hawaii new," he said. "And I've from the Kilauea volcano,
County Fire Department been documenting them which has been erupting This photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Land and
said. Three others were in a bit." continuously for the past Natural Resources shows damage to the roof of a tour boat after
an explosion sent lava flying through the roof off the Big Island of
stable condition at a hospi- Turpin has been navigating 35 years. In May, its erup- Hawaii Monday, July 16, 2018, injuring at least 23 people.
tal with unspecified injuries. lava tour boats for many tion entered a new phase Associated Press
The rest of the passengers years and has lived on the when it began spurting lava
suffered burns, scrapes and Big Island since 1983. through newly formed fis- then. But the only serious broke his leg.
other superficial injuries. He said most of the injuries sures in a residential neigh- injury over the past two Officials were interview-
They were aboard a tour were minor, but that he borhood. It has destroyed months was to a man who ing injured passengers at a
boat that takes visitors to had just visited one woman more than 700 homes since was hit by flying lava that hospital.q
see lava plunging into the who sustained serious inju-
ocean from a long-erupting ries in the hospital.
volcano that has been vig- "They're unbelievable peo-
orously shooting lava from ple," he said of the woman
a new vent in the ground and her family, who are vis-
for the past two months. iting the island. "Just really
The lava punctured the good people."
boat's roof, leaving a gap- The others in the tour group
ing hole, firefighters said. quickly pulled together
Shane Turpin, the owner helped one another, Turpin
and captain of the vessel said.
that was hit, said he nev- "What I saw in humanity
er saw the explosion that this morning was amazing.
rained molten rocks down I mean this was a group
on top of his boat. of people that never met
He and his tour group had before, and they were
been in the area for about brought together," he said.
20 minutes making passes "In all honesty, we definitely
of the ocean entry about evaded a catastrophic
500 yards offshore, Turpin event today."
said. Officials have warned of
He didn't observe "any ma- the danger of getting close
jor explosions," so he navi- to lava entering the ocean,
gated his vessel closer, to saying the interaction can
about 250 yards away from create clouds of acid and
the lava. fine glass. Despite the haz-
"As we were exiting the ards, several companies
zone, all of a sudden ev- operate such tours. The
erything around us explod- Coast Guard said tour ves-
ed," he said. "It was every- sels have operated in the
where." area going back at least 20
Turpin said he had no idea years.
just how big the blast was The U.S. Coast Guard in
until he saw video of the May instituted a safety zone