Dramatic footage shows a burning boat off the coast of Eastbourne, but luckily the two people on board were rescued by a passing fishing vessel
Two boaters had a lucky escape yesterday (March 21) when their 37ft cruiser went up in flames off the coast of Eastbourne. As the video above shows, the burning boat was quickly consumed by the flames.
RNLI Eastbourne report that the two people on board had already been rescued by a passing fishing vessel by the time rescue crews arrived on the scene near Langney Point. Both men were later taken ashore on board Tamar class lifeboat Diamond Jubilee.
The RNLI crew later discovered that the vessel had set off from Sovereign Harbour with the intention of making the short hop along the coast to Brighton.
The two men on board were alerted to the problem when a fire alarm went off, and when they lifted the engine hatch to investigate, oxygen rushed in causing the flames to flare up and immediately engulf the vessel. The burning boat eventually sank at around 1430.
Coxswain Mark Sawyer commended the rapid response of the local fishing vessel, saying that the crew’s actions had helped to avert a potentially tragic outcome.
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