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duarda Carvalho said she never thought her dream of spending a beautiful holiday on Gili Island in West Nusa Tenggara would ever turn into a nightmare.

The speedboat that was supposed to carry her and other foreign tourists to the pristine island north of Lombok exploded five minutes after it started sailing from Padangbai harbor in Karangasem, East Bali. “It was scary. About five minutes after [we] left, we saw an explosion. And we saw people with injuries. The entire body,” the Portuguese said.

Carvalho said she did not see fire when the explosion occurred. “It’s not fire. Only explosion, smoke and shattered glass. Many people were panicking. We all panicked.”

She said she felt lucky as she was not even injured in the incident. “If it was a bigger explosion, I would not be here talking to you.”

Nevertheless, she said the incident had traumatized her and apparently ruined her perception of Bali. “The message is simple, Bali is not a good spot for tourists. I will never recommend Bali as a tourist spot.”

The explosion from the Gili Cat 2 speedboat, which regularly sails from Bali to Gili Island in Lombok, left two foreign tourists dead and 19 others injured.

The two passengers who lost their lives have been identified as Spanish Vanessa Pascual Fernandes and Austrian Kathrin Zefferer.

Some of the injured passengers are still being treated at several hospitals on the resort island, such as Kasih Ibu Saba Hospital, Family Husada Hospital, Bros Hospital and BIMC hospital. Others decided to be treated overseas.

On Friday afternoon, Austrian passenger Manuel Muehlbacher was evacuated to Singapore from Bros Hospital in Denpasar. Muehlbacher suffered fractures to his leg and injuries to his hands and knees.

Meanwhile, Roberto Domingo Semera and Sara Isabel Galdrano Vili, both Spanish, are being treated at Bros Hospital.

Manager on duty at Bros Hospital, Ari Silviawati, said both of them are currently being treated at an intensive care unit. “They are in stable condition,” she said, adding that the two victims were wounded by pieces of fiberglass.

The high-speed boat was on its way to three islands — Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan — in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) when the incident happened. There were 35 foreigners on the boat: nine British, six Italians, four Austrians, four French, four Portuguese, two Dutch, two Germans, two Irish and two Spanish.

Police believe that the explosion was an accident and that there was no indication of sabotage.

“It was purely an accident. It was allegedly caused by a fuel tank leakage that pushed the gas out under the deck. The accumulation of gas and high pressure allegedly caused an explosion when there was a short circuit,” Karangasem Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sugeng Sudarso said.

Sugeng, however, added that police are still investigating the cause of the accident. “We have questioned seven witnesses, including four passengers and three boat crew [members] during the investigation,” he said.

“The investigation is still ongoing and we haven’t named any suspects in this case,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Padangbai Harbor Authority (KSOP) is conducting a separate investigation into the incident. The boat’s skipper, Totok Wasito, and three crew members — identified as Sugiarto, Nyoman Supartika and Kadek Kris — were interrogated by KSOP on Friday.

“We conducted an investigation to find the cause of the accident,” Padangbai Harbor Authority head I Ketut Gede Sudarma said.

Based on the report, the Gili Cat 2 boat, built in Australia in 2001, had been maintained properly and routinely checked. “The last time the boat was checked was in February, and it was declared seaworthy,” Sudarma said.