An electronic cigarette exploded inside the pocket of passenger on a Harry Potter ride in Universal Orlando, seriously injuring a 14-year-old girl, according to reports.
Caroline Saylor, a teen from Tennessee visiting the popular Orlando theme park, suffered both first and second degree burns as well as injuries to her face, neck, arms and legs. Saylor boarded the “Hogwarts Express” ride Saturday with her family and several other teenagers. An e-cigarette in the pocket of one of the teenagers exploded while aboard and shot a fireball into Saylor, reports WJHL.
“The guy who was sitting right next to me, something blew up in his pocket and it went on me,” Saylor told WJHL. “I just saw like a bunch of fire and smoke go in my face and then I tried to get it off of me and it went on the floor and I jumped up on the seat.”
Police said the cause appears to be accidental and that the three teenagers involved in the incident were spotted fleeing the scene and leaving the park after the ride came to a stop. The explosion caused panic and tourists were not immediately sure what caused the explosion, fearing something went wrong with the ride, reports WATE.
“Initially we thought it was part of the ride, it almost sounded like a firework, and it just kind of exploded everyone started jumping everywhere,” Melissa Saylor, Caroline’s mother, told WJHL. “Everybody was banging on the door trying to get out because at the time we didn’t know what it was it was still on fire.”
Members of the Saylor family praised the response of Universal park workers and emergency personnel for how they handled the incident.
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