Summary US Navy officials said they were still trying to determine what caused the blast.
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP (AP) An explosion during boat maintenance at a U.S. naval base on Tuesday injured a civilian firefighter and seven sailors, one of them seriously.
Seven of the eight injured people were treated at hospitals and were released. One sailor remained hospitalized after undergoing surgery for a broken arm.
US Navy officials said they were still trying to determine what caused the blast, which occurred around 9 a.m. at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Middletown. Navy spokeswoman Beth Baker said it occurred while personnel were doing routine maintenance on a 27-foot aluminum utility boat, which is used to support port operations at the base.
The blast was confined to a boathouse where the maintenance was being done.
The names of the sailors and the Department of Defense firefighter injured in the blast weren t immediately disclosed, and further details on their injuries weren t provided.
The station provides ammunition and explosives for Navy vessels. Baker said ammunition and ordnance operations there were unaffected by the explosion, which was deemed an accident.
