A casino shuttle boat caught fire Sunday afternoon in Port Richey, Florida, killing a woman and forcing dozens to evacuate -- some jumping into the frigid canal on the area's coldest day of the year, authorities said.
There were about 50 passengers and crew aboard the vessel, which ferries people to the Tropical Breeze Casino boat about three miles offshore to international waters in the Port Richey canal, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Everyone was accounted for, the sheriff's office said, but 15 passengers were taken to a local hospital.
One of those injured, a 42-year-old woman whose name was not immediately released, died at 10:42 p.m. Sunday while being treated at Bayonet Point Regional Medical Center in Hudson, Florida, Kurt J. Conover, a hospital spokesman told ABC News.
Video taken by a witness on shore showed the flames rapidly sweeping through the boat from the bow to the stern, and people leaping overboard into water 8 to 10 deep. Witnesses on shore could be heard on the video yelling at passengers to jump.
Other passengers sustained minor injuries -- including smoke inhalation and chest tightening -- and are not considered in life-threatening conditions, the Pasco County Fire Department said.
The massive fire broke out on the coldest day of the year in Port Richey, which is near Tampa. Afternoon temperatures dropped as low as 43 degrees, and the waters were about 59 degrees -- cold enough, if in the water for a sustained period of time, to cause hypothermia, authorities said.
The boat was still ablaze hours after it caught fire, the fire department said. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
When the blaze sparked, the captain of the boat beached the vessel about 100 feet from shore. The waters weren't deep, a spokesman for the fire department said, allowing rescuers to reach victims quickly and passengers to swim to shore.
A spokesman for the fire department said it was fortunate the fire happened so close to shore.
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