A tragic explosion at a Staten Island shipyard claimed the life of a diligent Chinese immigrant, who was caught in the inferno while working inside a boat. His family, saddened by the loss, shared details about the incident on Saturday.
Xiaoyuan Li, a resident of Flushing, was on the brink of ending his shift at May Ship Repair, located on the dry dock in Mariners Harbor. He was looking forward to spending a weekend away with his wife. This poignant detail was recounted by his son, Jerome Li, in an interview with The Post.
“My mother called me,” Jerome revealed from their Queens residence, “She said my dad’s coworker had phoned the police, reporting that my dad was trapped inside the vessel.”
Tragically, just 45 minutes later, an explosion rocked the site.
The catastrophic blast occurred on Friday afternoon, injuring 30 people, including two firefighters. One firefighter remained in critical condition. Authorities are currently investigating the exact cause of the explosion.
As chaos unfolded, Xiaoyuan’s colleagues hurried to bring his wife, Jinhua, 53, to the scene. Jerome, filled with urgency, took an Uber to the dry dock, but the dire situation offered little hope.
A supervisor told the family they had to “wait out the report and see what’s going on.”
“My mom was desperate, crying,” said the heartbroken 22-year-old, who just graduated from college.
“I was in shock,” he said. “I thought there might be hope. When I got there they said no one had died yet but that my dad is still not found. I’m sad. I try not to cry.”
His father immigrated from Yanbian, a Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China that borders North Korea, around 10 years ago, his son said, for a better life for their family.
He had been working for the ship repair company for about four years.
The father would start his day at 4 a.m., often not arriving home until 5 p.m. His wife started the days with him, making him a breakfast of tofu and packing him a lunch, their son said.
“He’s working hard and taking care of the family,” the son said. “He works so early and it’s hard work at the shipyard. Every day he’s really tired when he gets back home.”
And his dad knew the work was dangerous, he said.
“He’s the only guy down there working in the basement,” the son said. “There should be a safeguard.”
The family said no one from May Ship Repair has reached out to them.
“My mom wants to know the reason this happened,” he said.
“It’s just a heartbreaking moment,” said the son, who earned a degree in photography.
“I just graduated two days ago, it’s a new chapter in my life. It was the last day he worked, my parents were just about to have a trip.”
