Video: Dozens rescued after Greek tour boat bursts into flames
Onboard footage has emerged of a fire that broke out aboard a tourist boat off the Greek island of Rhodes.
Dozens of passengers were rescued after the vessel burst into flames around 300 metres off the coast during a cruise on Thursday (29 June 2023). State-run ERT TV reports the boat was carrying 82 people.
Holidaymakers jumped into the sea after the flame spread rapidly through the deck of the wooden vessel, identified as Magellan, sending plumes of dark smoke into the sky.
Dozens of tourists, mostly from #Britain, were rescued from a burning #touristboat after it went up in flames on Thursday off the #Greekisland of #Rhodes. Full story: https://t.co/Ly5l7ADlec #Credit Shaun Williams pic.twitter.com/IIFa3ULXPO
— Greek Reporter (@GreekReporter) June 30, 2023
All passengers were evacuated safely and taken to the nearby resort town of Kolympia, according to local news reports. Local media also reported that the captain had been arrested.
One child and a woman were taken to hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
Shaun Williams, an aircraft engineer from St Ives, Cornwall, said he was on a boat trip with his family while on holiday when the fire broke out. He has shared footage taken during the evacuation.
He told MailOnline: “We were on the top deck and the crew started shouting but we could not understand. We then saw the smoke.”
The 55-year-old said the vessel had stopped for a scheduled snorkelling trip off Stegna beach.
He adds that there was “a lot of panic” as the captain of the boat told everyone to “get in the sea” as the crew handed out life jackets.
“We all jumped in and I would say within a minute or two the place we had been standing was fully ablaze,” says Williams. “The crew tried to fight the fire but the boat was made of wood and the fire grew quickly.”
Several nearby boats, as well as vessels from local authorities, came to the aid of the stricken boat.
Greece’s Central Port Authority has confirmed it will take measures to deal with marine pollution after the boat sank.
In June, Greece’s coastguard defended its actions after a fishing boat was wrecked off its southern peninsula while carrying hundreds of migrants, resulting in one of the largest tragedies in the Mediterranean in recent history. At least 78 people died, with hundreds considered missing.
