Boat explosion on west Michigan lake kills one, injures another

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) _ A boat exploded, burst into flames and sank Saturday on a western Michigan lake, killing one of the two men aboard. <br/><br/>The explosion on the 1959 twin-engine wooden

Saturday, July 24th 2004, 8:51 pm

By: News On 6

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) _ A boat exploded, burst into flames and sank Saturday on a western Michigan lake, killing one of the two men aboard.

The explosion on the 1959 twin-engine wooden boat knocked the men unconscious, authorities said.

When the boat's owner, John M. Huegli, awoke, he tried but failed to rouse Peter C. Murray and abandoned the boat as it was consumed by flames on Lake Macatawa, Ottawa County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Allman told The Holland Sentinel.

Divers recovered the body of Murray, 52, of Ann Arbor. Huegli, 59, of Dexter, was hospitalized for minor injuries and released.

The cause of the explosion was unknown. Huegli told authorities that the boat had been fueled and vented Saturday morning, Allman said.