Family lucky to be alive after miracle escape as burning yacht ‘explodes’ and sinks

A family-of-four had a lucky escape after a yacht they were aboard burst into flames.

Two adults and two children were on the vessel when the fire erupted in Conwy Harbour, Wales, at 1.35pm this afternoon.

A huge emergency operation involved fire crews, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the coastguard, North Wales Police and two other yachts in the area was launched to rescue the family, North Wales Live reports.

Plumes of thick black smoke could be seen billowing into the sky, before the vessel exploded after drifting towards Conwy Quay.

Fire crews urged people to stay away from the area while they extinguished the blaze, which spread, decimating another boat moored nearby.

The yacht later sank and remains at the bottom of the river.

The HM Coastguard said two adults and two children aboard the burning vessel managed to escape unharmed with the help of two other yachts in the area.

Those who escaped are all said to be home, safe and well.

No other injuries were reported.

A spokesman for the HM Coastguard, said: “We had a mayday call from a yacht called Osprey, who reported they were next to a yacht on fire.

“They were getting the people from their yacht onto their own and they were assisted by another yacht called Freedom in doing so.

“That was very quick and extremely brave of them – the vessel was quite significantly on fire when they made the call to us.”

The spokesman added: “They were all very lucky and I have to say my gratitude to those two yachts that rescued them so quickly.

“They really did make a positive contribution to the whole incident and did a sterling job.”

The coastguard said after the alarm was raised, it broadcast to other vessels in the area to stay clear due to the “significant explosion risk.”

It came after it was told the burning yacht had a “reasonable amount of fuel and gas for cooking on it.

“In that part of the Conwy river, there’s a strong tidal current and because the tide was coming in, it was pushing the yacht up river, past the marina and down towards the bridge and the town,” the spokesman said.

“We couldn’t risk attempting to get anyone to try and even fight the fire because of the risk to people of getting close to it so they watched it drift its way up the river.”

Eventually, it became stuck on a pontoon in Conwy Harbour, where the tide pinned it against a fixed structure and another vessel, which also caught fire.

The fire service, along with staff from Conwy Harbour, managed to get a flat topped barge close enough to tackle both fires following the explosion.

“In the time it took for the yacht to get there, the gas cylinder did explode and launched itself quite high into the air, which was fairly alarming for everybody,” the coastguard spokesman added.