New details emerge in Wilmette boat explosion

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.

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.

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.