New details emerge in Wilmette boat explosion

Monday, August 13, 2018
WILMETTE, Ill. (WLS) -- The investigation continues into the Wilmette Harbor boat explosion that left a 67-year-old Arlington Heights man dead and another injured Saturday.

According to police, the two men were refueling the two-engine boat just before the explosion at approximately 8 a.m. at the Sheridan Shores Yacht Club.
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The driver started one engine, but the second engine misfired and started on a second attempt. According to investigators, the boat exploded upon that second attempt.

Police said the explosion appears to be accidental.

The surviving man was a 74-year-old Arlington Heights man who was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
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The man who was killed was identified as Mitchell Sroka. He appears to have died from injuries from the explosion, but the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office did not release a cause of death Saturday evening.

Sroka's body was recovered by divers and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
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