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LAKE WYLIE A man was thrown from a Sea-Doo Friday after it exploded on Lake Wylie, authorities said.
The Waxhaw, N.C., man was riding the personal watercraft near the Buster Boyd Bridge at S.C. 49 when it stalled, York County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Trent Faris said.
When the man tried to restart the Sea-Doo, witnesses told police, it exploded – sending the man into the air nearly as high as the bridge.
The 31-year-old man, whose name hasn’t been released, was taken to Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill. He complained of a possible concussion and soreness in his ankles and arms, Faris said.
The explosion happened around 12:40 p.m. No one else was injured, Faris said.
The state Department of Natural Resources is leading the investigation with help from the sheriff’s office, Faris said.
York County and state wildlife officers were trying Friday afternoon to locate the top half of the watercraft’s hull, which sank. The bottom half was recovered before sinking.
Chip Traub, co-owner of Lake Wylie Boat Rentals, heard the explosion.
“It sounded like a canon went off,” he said.
Terry Everhart, an officer with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s lake patrol unit, said the man was alert before he was taken to the hospital.
Everhart wasn’t sure about an exact cause of the incident.
“Apparently they had a gas leak or something,” he said.
Efforts to reach DNR officials were unsuccessful Friday.
John Marks of the Lake Wylie Pilot contributed.
