Lava bomb hits tour boat in Hawaii and injures 23 people

Hawaii’s youngest volcano, Kilauea, continues to erupt and flow into the sea — which means lava bombs.

An airborne blob of volcanic lava hit a tour boat off the eastern edge of Hawaii’s Big Island on Monday morning, injuring 23 people.

According to the Hawaii County Fire Department, reported by Reuters, the lava bomb landed on the roof of the boat, punctured it and fell into the seating area.

Like a typical lava bomb, the chunk of molten rock was propelled into the air as hot lava from Kilauea poured into the Pacific Ocean. 

So, what was the boat doing so close to the lava? The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) told Reuters the boat was operated by Lava Ocean Tours, which, for $220 per person, will ferry you to a location where you can watch lava flowing freely into the sea.

Crew from another tour boat nearby captured some incredible footage of the incident, posted to Twitter by Hawaii News Now reporter Mileka Lincoln.

Lincoln also posted a video from one of the passengers actually on board the Lava Ocean Tours boat. It’s pretty alarming, and there’s some screaming in it, just a heads up.

CNN reports 13 of the injured passengers needed hospital treatment at Hilo Medical Center, while the remaining 10 were treated for superficial injuries when they returned to port.

Images and video of the boat’s damage have been posted to Twitter:

Kilauea has been erupting since May. You shouldn’t let it stop you from visiting Hawaii though, just avoid the affected areas and be aware of the risks — lava bombs included.