Boat Exploded While It Was Getting Gas, NJ State Police Say

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — On Thursday morning, State Police released more information about what exactly caused a 32-foot motorboat to explode Wednesday afternoon in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge.

The two men who were hospitalized both sustained non-life-threatening injuries, said police. One of them, Michael Sorger, 47, of Perth Amboy, was released from the hospital Wednesday night, and he told News 12 the two men were about to head out on a fishing trip.

"It was like a bomb went off right next to me," he told the news outlet. "We left from Keyport and realized we needed gas ... [My friend] went to start the boat, it stuttered a little bit and then I was undoing the rope and he went to start it again and it just blew up."

"We just put 75 gallons into the boat. When he went to start it, boom," Sorger told CBS, still wearing his hospital gown and standing next to the marina where he nearly died, Raritan Marina on Rt. 35. "The fire gave me first-degree burns to my stomach. The heat and everything was just outrageous."

The explosion happened while his friend, a 57-year-old Old Bridge resident, was fueling the 32-foot Well Craft, said police. When the boat was finished refueling, the man attempted to start the engine and the engine exploded.

The boat burst into flames.

The force of the blast ejected the Old Bridge man from the boat and he landed in the water. He was pulled out of Raritan Bay by bystanders. He sustained serious burns to his face and legs and was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He continues to recover there as of Thursday and is expected to make a full recovery.

Sorger, who was standing on the dock, also sustained burns to his stomach, and flying glass cut his arms. He was taken to Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel and released Wednesday night.

The Old Bridge man remains hospitalized.

The explosion was reported at 3:19 p.m.; Old Bridge Police, fire and EMS arrived on scene immediately. State Police got there at 4:01 p.m.

Laurence Harbor residents said they could hear and feel the blast from half a mile away from the marina.

The boat sank.

Wednesday: Boat Explodes At Old Bridge Marina, Man Propelled Into Water