OCEAN ISLE BEACH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A boat exploded at a dock on the North Carolina coast, injuring three, after the boaters accidentally pumped 28 gallons of gasoline into a fishing rod holder instead of the fuel tank.
Scott Pritchard with the state Wildlife Resource Commission told WECT the three people hospitalized are the boat's owner, 40-year-old David Martin Jr. of Charlotte; passenger 35-year-old Jonathan Bickett of Charlotte; and 24-year-old Kendrick Schwarz of Brunswick County.
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Schwarz worked for a company called to tow the boat after the two realized the mistake.
As battery cables were being disconnected in an effort to prevent a spark, a spark occurred anyway, igniting the fuel.
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Martin and Bickett were airlifted to a Chapel Hill hospital. An ambulance took Schwarz to a hospital in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.