A catamaran explosion in Queensland kills the boat owner as police consider it an accident

A man was killed after his sailing catamaran burst into flames and investigators ruled it an accident.

Raffaele Pagliarini, 66, from Ravenshoe, about 114km south of Cairns, in Far North Queensland, was killed by the explosion on Saturday.

Bystanders on the banks of the Johnstone River watched helplessly as the boat burst into flames before it sank.

Police confirmed a body had been found at the scene and believe it belongs to the 66-year-old, but investigators will have to carry out DNA tests after the corpse was left mutilated by the explosion.

Mr Pagliarini was last seen on his boat on the Johnstone River on Friday, with police ruling the explosion an accident.

Townsville yacht owner Chris Hooper, who anchored with Mr Pagliarini in August, has provided insight into the possible cause of the fire.

He said that during a visit to Mr Pagliarini’s vessel, named Yawo, a wood-burning oven installed on the boat had caught fire.

“We saw Raf’s pizza fire get out of control on Magnetic Island, he burned his hands trying to put it out,” he said The Cairns Post .

‘Friends told me he now had a still to make alcohol, which is strange because Raf didn’t drink much.’

An Innisfail man who was first on the scene described wading through a crocodile-infested habitat and desperately calling out to everyone on board.

The man, who did not want to be named, said he got within meters of Pagliarini’s yacht but it was completely engulfed in flames and clouds of smoke.

‘I was actually the first on the scene and the first in waist-deep water, four meters down from the ship, while it was burning. I shouted to see if anyone was on the ship and relayed information to the police. “I wish I did more now,” he said.

‘He could have been next to me in the mangroves, or somewhere behind me.

It is understood the boat caught fire on the Johnstone River in Far North Queensland

A friend of Mr Pagliarini said a wood-burning oven installed on the forest had caught fire when he visited the sailor in August.

Izzy Nazare, a friend of Mr Pagliarini, said she met the sailor on North Keppel Island two years ago and developed a close bond over a shared interest in off-grid and sustainable living.

‘He was not lonely, but he did not like to be around people and was always separated from the group. He loved his solitude,” she said.

“He lived that way, he told me, because when he was young he was extremely poor and now he tried to look for that, to get an idea of ​​his lifestyle,” she said.

Ms Nazare said she did not believe the wood-fire pizza caused the boat to catch fire.

“I know he has a wood-burning pizza oven fire on board and he knew exactly what he was doing. It was impossible and if there was a fire he would surely put it out. He was extremely careful, it’s just very strange’ she said.

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if he got into a fight.”

The police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is still ongoing.