A Carnival cruise ship had to be evacuated after two fuel barges in Mobile, Alabama exploded late Wednesday night.
Officials say three people were seriously injured in the blast and are in critical condition. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, but say it’s likely that a cleaning crew caused a spark which ignited.
The cruise ship is the very one which broke down in the Gulf of Mexico in February and had to be towed into Mobile; it has been docked there fore repairs since that time. No one aboard the ship was injured, but witnesses say the explosions were like nothing they’d ever seen before.
“It literally sounded like bombs going off around. The sky just lit up in orange and red,” said Alan Waugh, who lives across the river from where the barges went up in flames, “We could smell something in the air, we didn’t know if it was gas or smoke.”
As of right now, the fire is out, but officials say a full investigation will take place.