• E-Mail
• Print
• Larger
• Smaller

Published: Friday, Jul. 13, 2012 / Updated: Wednesday, Jul. 18, 2012 04:39 PM

Man hospitalized after watercraft explosion on Lake Wylie

LAKE WYLIE -- 

An explosion Friday on Lake Wylie left one man shaken, but conscious.

According to York County Sheriff’s Office, a 31-year-old male from Waxhaw, N.C., was riding a Sea-Doo personal watercraft near Buster Boyd Bridge when it stalled. When he tried to re-crank, the vehicle exploded.

“Witnesses say he was blown to bridge height,” said Trent Farris with the Sheriff’s Office.

The incident occurred at 12:41 p.m. today. As of press time Friday afternoon, the driver had been transported to Piedmont Medical Center after complaining of sore ankles and arms, and a possible concussion. Further updates to his condition weren’t known.

York County and state wildlife officers were still using SONAR on Friday afternoon to locate the top half of the hull. The bottom half was recovered before sinking. Terry Everhart, officer with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s lake patrol unit, said the driver was alert and conscious before heading to the hospital. Everhart wasn’t sure an exact cause of the incident.

“Apparently they had a gas leak or something,” he said.

Chip Traub, co-owner of Lake Wylie Boat Rentals, said someone using one of his boats saw the explosion and arrived to help the injured driver. The personal watercraft was not one of his rentals.

“He was coming in just on the other side of T-Bones,” Traub said. “It sounded like a cannon went off.”

Traub said at least one witness described a situation where a spark plug wire came loose and fumes accumulated before exploding. An official cause hasn’t been released. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, with assistance from York County Sheriff’s Office, is leading the investigation.