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After fighting for his life at the Centro Medico Hospital in Guatemala for 33 days, well-known Boat Captain Romy Badillo died this morning at 2:45. The family is in Guatemala right now making arrangements for his body to be brought back home for burial. When we spoke to his son, Romy Badillo Jr. this evening he told us that his father was not on life support and that he died a natural death as a result of his severe injuries and second degree burns which he received to 50% of his body. About 5 days after the family took Badillo to Guatemala in April, they had posted on facebook that the skin surgery to remove the burnt skin was successful and that he was recovering, but things took a sudden turn for the worse. He reportedly got an infection on his leg which had to be amputated and went downhill after that.

The incident happened on April 2nd near the municipal airstrip. On the Thursday before Easter, 4 men were launching a boat with an inboard engine when a fire spontaneously ignited onboard. The fire caused an explosion which sent one of the men flying into the sea and left Badillo severly burned. What caused the explosion is still a mystery. Badillo had been a boat captain for over 40 years.