Boat explodes after group ‘shout anti-Pride slurs’ at family – who then rescue them

A group of US boaters were reportedly taught a lesson on Karma when they were saved by a Pride flag-waving family moments after mocking them.

The alleged harassers were “shouting gay slurs” and swearing at the passengers of the other boat when their own vessel suddenly went up in smoke, according to one of the rescuers.

Twitter user Cosmic Robbie explained that he, his girlfriend, his brother and his partner were on Moses Lake, Washington state, on Sunday evening when the group approached and began verbally abusing them.

Robbie said he and his loved-ones were flying numerous LGBTQ and transgender rights flags from their boat, and the strangers didn’t seem to like it.

"These people harassed my family because we were flying gay Pride flags in Moses Lake Washington, by racing around us and shouting gay slurs,” he wrote on social media, alongside footage of the encounter.

"Then, their boat literally blew up!"

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Robbie said a woman from the other vessel swore at them, “then the boat quickly made a sharp turn back towards us and went around us.”

He continued: "I then again personally heard someone shout what I thought to be the word ‘gays’ so I asked my brother to pull out his phone and blatantly start recording in hopes that it would avoid conflict if they noticed."

The boat then circled them around six times before the aggressors “attempted to speed away.”

Robbie went on: "After a moment, we heard a loud backfire and a sputter come from the boat. Though I could not see the boat, in the direction, I could see a cloud of black smoke rising quickly.

"The driver, possibly embarrassed, then rushed to start the vehicle again... Another few moments pass and we hear an incredibly loud explosion come from the direction they were headed.

"Our driver shouted, ‘Holy crap! They blew up!’"

A video recording of the incident, shared on TikTok, shows the stranded boaters swimming over to Robbie and his family.

They ask: “Are you guys OK?” to which a woman in the other party replies: “No, we’re burning.”

The good samaritans then invite the group onto their boat, at which point the woman begins hysterically crying.

The caption to the clip reads: “Not a single thank you.”

Following the dramatic encounter, Grant County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: "As of right now, we are trying to make contact with the occupants of the vessel being circled so we can interview them to find out what happened.

"We would like to know more, and once we can interview people, we will be able to know more without relying solely on a brief video."

Sheriff Tom Jones told BuzzFeed that the cause of the fire was not yet known but that it came from the engine compartment in the middle of the boat.

He added that the boat’s owner and one passenger had been burned but declined treatment.