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'Like a horror movie': 1 dead as desperate passengers flee Bahamas tour boat explosion

An exotic excursion to see swimming pigs on the white sandy beaches of the Bahamas' Exuma Islands turned tragic when a small tour boat became a floating inferno after an engine exploded.

An American woman was killed and 10 others were injured Saturday, according to The Nassau Guardian, as desperate passengers jumped overboard to flee the flames and black smoke filled the sky.

The boat, a Four C’s Adventures craft, was carrying 10 American passengers and two Bahamian crew, the Guardian said.

Witnesses described a dramatic and terrifying scene.

“It was like a horror movie,” Christian Topperwien, who was visiting from Los Angeles, told the Guardian. “For me, it was like, ‘This can’t be real.' "

Topperwien said he and his wife were behind the burning boat, on a smaller boat destined for a full-day tour of the Exumas when chaos erupted.

“I heard this little noise, and then this boat caught flames,” Topperwien said. “Within 15, 30 seconds, it was burning at the propellers in the back of the boat. Then we saw all these people jumping off the boat into the water. There were people in the water already."

As his boat approached the smaller one, which was on a half-day tour, flames continued to race and more blasts thundered through the air, he said. “It was crazy. People from our boat jumped in the water, and we got people off the water into our boat ... all these injured people. ... We helped with towels to stop the bleeding and trying to calm people down."

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Stefanie Schaffer, an American who survived the explosion along with her family, suffered life-threatening injuries, including a double amputation, and remains in critical condition, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the young woman.

The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Royal Bahamas Police Force in the rescue, transporting four U.S. citizens to Florida, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The cause of the incident is under investigation by the Exuma branch of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

The Exumas are a chain of more than 300 tiny Bahamian islands and cays. Squealing pigs paddle out to greet guests on uninhabited "Pig Beach," about 80 miles southeast of Nassau, where tourists can snorkel in the the sapphire waters and feed iguanas. It is  reachable only by tours or chartered boats.

Follow Miller on Twitter @susmiller.