A man was killed early Sunday when the scuba tank he was carrying exploded just outside his apartment. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL
The massive blast at around 6:50 a.m. in St. Petersburg blew the victim back through the apartment doorway while shattering windows and damaging cars in a 100-foot radius, firefighters told the St. Petersburg Times.
The unidentified man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the newspaper reported.
Investigators said the man was planning to go scuba diving with some friends and was carrying the tank into the parking lot when it blew up.
A man and a woman were inside the apartment, but they were not hurt. Neither was identified.
Authorities said they don’t know what caused the scuba tank to explode.
“We have a dive master and he came out to examine the tanks,” St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue Lt. Joel Granata told the Times. “Right now it’s under investigation.”
Neighbors a half mile away reported hearing the explosion.
Greg Sullivan, a retired 58-year-old welder who lives in an apartment behind the blast area, said he rushed over to help the bleeding man.
“It was a completely devastating wound,” Greg Sullivan told the Times.
Sullivan said he often saw the man loading up scuba gear to go diving.
