CONNELLY - Five people were burned in an explosion aboard a pleasure boat on a Hudson River tributary Saturday afternoon, Ulster County authorities said.

The victims, all members of one family, were taken from the Rondout Yacht Basin in Connelly to the burn unit at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Their names were not immediately disclosed.

Ulster County Sheriff's Capt. Harry Van Vliet told the Kingston Daily Freeman the boat was in line to get fuel at the marina, and the operator was apparently trying to start it when the explosion occurred.

The father, mother and a 12-year-old were flown in helicopters to Westchester Medical Center. Two older children, reportedly 16 and 18, initially were taken by ambulance to Benedictine Hospital in Kingston but later flown to Westchester, Van Vliet said.

A witness said all five suffered burns to their skin, and their hair also had been burned.