Man crashes 24ft boat into rocks to save family

A father has been praised for saving his family after his boat started sinking off the Devon coast.

He ran the 24ft vessel aground on rocks at Torquay allowing his family including a baby and three other children to get to safety.

The family was then rescued, initially by civilians including a party of people coasteering, as well as some local teenagers, who were first on the scene.

The civilians said they “guided the man into the rocks and managed to get the children and parents off the boat onto the rocks before it sank. We then called the coastguard.”

After the lifeboats arrived, the family were taken ashore. Incredible pictures show the baby and three other children being passed by the lifeboat crew.

The dad managed to sink the boat near the natural feature on the coast known as London Bridge, according to Devon Live.

A total of six people were rescued in the incident on Tuesday afternoon.

RNLI Torbay Coxswain, Mark Criddle, says: “This man did absolutely the right thing in running their boat onto the rocks where they all managed to scramble to safety.

“We launched both RNLI Torbay lifeboats to the scene because their position was unsure and we knew we had to find them quickly.

“When we arrived on scene, our volunteers ferried the young children one by one to the safety of our all-weather lifeboat, followed by the adults.

“The family were distressed but otherwise unharmed although their vessel could not be saved. This man’s quick thinking saved his family’s life.”

Two boats from the Torbay Harbour Authority went to the scene to recover debris and disperse spilled fuel.

A light diesel slick 25m by 150m was reportedly spreading from the vessel – which is due to be recovered today.

The Torbay Council team also warned mariners of the hazard caused by the sunken boat, reports The Scottish Sun.