Waverunner explodes on beach

SAND KEY - A father and son were injured when a rented Waverunner exploded Tuesday afternoon.

“The entire thing was a fireball, it was just a sonic boom that went off,” said witness Susan Whittaker.

Paramedics rushed the men to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater around 2:30 p.m., investigators said. The victims have not been identified.

The Waverunner shattered following the blast, snapping the hull from the fiberglass fame on top, though the fuel tank appeared to be intact.

Witnesses said the explosion occurred after the men tested the “kill switch,” which shuts off the engine when a passenger falls in the water.

“It just blew up and it blew the son off the back in an ark,” Whittaker said. “Parts went everywhere and the dad went a different direction.”

After recoiling in fear, Whittaker said beachgoers sprang from their chairs and rushed to the men.