Brit tourists' boat explodes into huge fireball off Greek holiday island

15 August 2023 , 14:51

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Brit tourists' boat explodes into huge fireball off Greek holiday island

Five British tourists had to be rescued after their motorboat erupted into a fireball as they holidayed off a Greek island.

The Brits were enjoying their time off the coast of Zakynthos, Greece. It isn't clear what triggered the fire, but one passenger is said to have suffered burns when it caught fire, around 250 feet from shore.

The fire quickly spread across the craft and in no time at all the entire boat was consumed.

Shocking images show a massive fireball sending plumes of black smoke into the sky set on the Mediterranean sea, in front of an idyllic looking holiday destination.

Shocking footage captured the burning boat before it sank (Facebook)

Footage of the fire from a second vessel shows the gutted remains of the boat after the fire has spread all across it. It was already beginning to sink into the sea and Greek media later confirmed it sank.

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Separate video, filmed from the shore, shows the emergency services responding to the blazer. One boat approaches the vessel and tries to put the flame out as a few others circle around them.

Luckily for the holidaymakers, another boat noticed the horror unfolding and raced to the rescue. They helped the Brits climb aboard before taking them ashore, The Mail reported.

One person was reportedly treated for burns but the rest of the passengers were said to be okay (Facebook)

The Greek island is to the west of the country's mainland, away from other popular holiday destinations in the Aegean.

This comes just weeks after after a huge tourist boat when up in flames, forcing passengers to leap into the sea to escape. Off the coast of the Greek island of Rhodes, a huge tourist boat caught fire.

Panicked tourists saw no other option but to throw themselves into the water to escape the fire. The ship was carrying 96 passengers at the time and was heading to Lindos.

Shaun Williams, 55, from St. Ives, Cornwall, had just arrived on the island the day before with his wife Nicola and two sons Lewis, 17, and Charlie, 9.

He described the horror moment he realised the ship was going up in flames. Talking to The Mail, he said: "We heard the crew shouting and running up and down and going for the fire extinguishers. Then we saw the smoke coming out and they started handing out life jackets.

"We were at the top of the boat at the time so we couldn't see the fire but then the captain said 'everybody off. So we had to jump because we couldn't go down the stairs because there were so many people there."

Kieren Williams