A tour boat that exploded off the coast of the Dominican Republic, killing a British teenager, was 'overpacked' and stunk of petrol before it set off, according to a passenger who survived the incident. Abbie Lainton, 16, was on a family holiday when she suffered severe burns on a 35-person boat trip in the Caribbean and died three days later in hospital. The cheerleading coach's younger brother and sister were also among more than 20 tourists who were injured on the catamaran.
Passengers raised concerns before departure
Now, however, it has been revealed that the boat 'did not feel safe' from the beginning and 'smelt of gasoline' as well as being 'overpacked'. Despite people's concerns, the boat was still alleged to be safe as staff reportedly reassured tourists. Gisell Segovia, 22, who was in the Dominican Republic to celebrate her husband Navin Torres' birthday, was left injured and traumatised following the incident.
Discussing the boat trip that was bringing holidaymakers back to the resort town of Bayahibe from a trip to the Saona Island, Segovia said to The Sun: 'We told the captain it smelled like gasoline and he was like, "Oh, no, no, it's fine". And it was a lot of people. I feel like they overpacked us.'
Survivor describes terrifying moments
Explaining that it 'didn't feel safe', she continued: 'It could last a five-minute ride, but I think it was around 30 minutes. A lot of people didn't have their life jackets buckled on right'. Segovia also said that she heard a terrifying 'pop' as the boat tried to 'keep up with other boats' before it exploded.
Her husband Torres said: 'The front of the boat exploded. It took me a couple of seconds to analyse what was going on [when] the fire started spreading towards me and my wife.' At that point, Segovia said people were thrown from their seats with broken pieces of the boat 'flying everywhere'. Asked whether she saw Abbie, she said that she remembered her because of her 'beautiful eyes'.
Victim's background and community support
Abbie, from Swindon, Wiltshire, is said to have suffered burns to around 60% of her body from the explosion. She and her siblings, Carley and Bradley, were understood to have been travelling without their parents, Gary and Rebecca Lainton. Abbie was a cheerleading coach at Swindon Lightning Cheerleading Club and had previously attended Tanwood School for Performing Arts, a youth musical theatre group.
People have so far donated more than £22,000 in a GoFundMe which has been set up to help the family. According to the page, it is said that the teenager had been enjoying the summer with friends and was looking forward to receiving her GCSE results. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said it is providing consular support to Abbie's family and assisting other British nationals and their families affected by the incident.
