Over 20 People Injured In Hawaii After Lava Tears Through Tour Boat Roof

The Kilauea volcano erupted Monday, injuring at least 23 people. According to the Huffington Post, the coast guard received a call around 6 a.m. after passengers and crew members of a boat were injured when a “basketball-sized scrap of lava” ripped through the boat’s roof.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources reports that four of those injured were taken to the Hilo Medical Center. Ten people were treated for minor injuries when the boat returned to Wailoa Harbor.

“A 20-year old woman received major trauma to her leg and the others suffered burns and scrapes,” said the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

USA Today reports that “Molten rock running into the ocean exploded and threw chunks of lava onto the Lava Ocean Tours boat, smashing a basketball-size hole through the boat’s roof and raining smaller rocks onto the decking.”

Eyewitnesses recall seeing the lava land on several passengers, injuring them right away. Local authorities are investigating the incident, as the tour boat may have the U.S. Coast Guard’s protocol. The agency “has prohibited boats from getting closer than 984 feet from the lava’s ocean entry points.” In order for a boat to get any closer, it must be helmed by an experienced boat operator with special approval.

Kilauea, located on The Big Island, is the largest of Hawaii’s five islands. Since 1983, it has continuously erupted and in its most recent eruption in May, it has destroyed over 100 acres.

“It is certainly heartbreaking to see the homes and the families who have lost everything,” said Governor David Ige.

Along with the explosion, over 10 fissures have opened up in the ground, emitting toxic gas and creating explosions that can reach hundreds of feet in the air. Fissures can remain active for hours. Even after the fissure “shuts off,” the gasses it emits continue to linger in the air. At the end of May, The Huffington Post reported that several fissures had joined together, creating a “lava river,” forcing many to evacuate. At that time, nearly 2,000 residents were evacuated.

When the lava reached the ocean, it created a “corrosive seawater plume laden with hydrochloric acid and fine volcanic particles that drift downwind and can irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs,” called “laze,” according to KITV4. In addition to the laze, there is also the threat of flying debris.

Sometime after the initial explosion, lava that flowed into the ocean created a smaller island off the coast.