23 injured on tour boat hit by ‘lava bomb’

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At least 23 people were injured when their boat was hit by a projectile from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii on Monday morning, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.

13 people were treated at the hospital, Hilo Medical Center confirmed, and the rest were treated on arrival at Wailoa Harbor.

One woman was in a serious condition with a fractured femur.

The boat's roof, after getting hit by a projectile from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii that struck the vessel on July 16, 2018. /VCG Photo

The incident happened near the eastern-most edge of the Big Island shortly after dawn, when a "lava bomb" punctured the roof of the boat and damaged a railing, according to the department.

"It was an explosion, basically," Janet Snyder, a spokeswoman for the county mayor, told the Tribune Herald newspaper.

"It punctured a hole right through the roof of the boat." She described the boat as "covered with lava."

It was reported that the boat carried 49 passengers at the time, but the exact number of people on board was unclear.

File photo of people watching from a tour boat as lava flows into the Pacific Ocean. /VCG Photo

The passengers were watching lava from the Kilauea eruption when the incident happened. Lava flowing into the Pacific is a spectacular sight, and it produces a unique kind of haze known in Hawaii as "laze."

The Kilauea volcano eruption started in early May, and was still ongoing as of Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles on Thursday reminded Chinese tourists in the US state of Hawaii to be cautious when viewing molten lava and to follow Hawaiian agencies' policies of keeping to a safe distance from dangerous, volcanic areas.

(With input from AFP)

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