Vessel catches fire off North Antrim Coast

A BOAT carrying two passengers burst into flames yesterday evening after 8pm a number of miles off shore between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island.

It is understood the two onboard jumped into the sea and were rescued by a passing boat.

RNLI later transported two people to Ambulance waiting at Ballycastle.

An RNLI spokesperson said: "While on exercise this evening (Monday 14 August) Red Bay RNLI from Cushendall were tasked by the coastguard to an incident south of Rathlin Island. Two men were reported in the water after a fire broke out on their 18ft speedboat.

"Both the All Weather and inshore lifeboats were on exercise at the time of the callout, which came in at 8.11pm and were quickly on scene. The two men who were in the water, were rescued by a passing yacht and then transferred to the Red Bay inshore lifeboat and brought back to Ballycastle, were they were met by the coastguard. Conditions at the time were described as calm.

"Speaking on the callout Red Bay RNLI Helm Gary Fyfe said, ‘Thankfully we had excellent conditions this evening and both people were safely recovered from the water. The fire took hold quickly and they made the correct decision to evacuate the vessel. We would advise people to always carry a means of calling for help and to always wear a lifejacket."

The vessel later sank at 9.40pm.