Four Britons have been rescued after their motor yacht caught fire before sinking off Menorca.
The fire started in the engine room before quickly spreading to the rest of the ship in Mahon, the capital of the Mediterranean island, on Sunday.
Dramatic footage showed coastguards who came to the rescue trying to put out the fire with high-pressure water jets as a huge plume of black smoke rose into the air.
Emergency services had initially planned to tow the 40-foot ship to the port of Mahon so firefighters could fight the blaze with more sophisticated equipment.
But the coast guard ultimately decided to take it out to sea to minimize the risk of explosion before it sank.
The fire broke out in the engine room before quickly spreading to the rest of the ship in Mahon, the capital of the Mediterranean island, on Sunday.
Dramatic footage showed coastguards who came to the rescue trying to put out the fire with high-pressure water jets as a huge plume of black smoke rose into the air.
The British citizens had already been rescued unharmed and taken ashore on a boat belonging to a yacht club based in the port of Mahon.
It was not immediately clear this morning whether they were tourists or lived in the area.
The drama occurred around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday when the motor yacht was in an area known as Canal de Mahón. She sank about two hours later, about four nautical miles southeast of the port of Mahon.
The nationality of the people on board became known this morning.
A Spanish Coast Guard spokesperson reported overnight: “On Sunday afternoon a fire broke out on board a 12 meter long motor boat in the Mahon Channel.
‘Its crew was rescued by sailors from the Mahón Nautical Club.
‘A tugboat began towing it before the coastguard cutter Antares took over, while at the same time efforts were made to put out the fire.
‘It finally sank around 8:00 p.m. to a depth of 92 meters. The coast guard vessel collected the floating debris.’
In June, a British couple was injured in a boat explosion in Mallorca. They were rushed to hospital with second-degree burns after the incident on June 16 in the Port of Palma.
The 44-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were said to have been tinkering with the engine of a Zodiac-type semi-rigid boat when the explosion occurred, sending them flying into the water.
As a result, another ship that was next to it also ended up catching fire.
In addition to burns on the face and arms, the injured also suffered less severe burns on other parts of the body.
The drama occurred around 6:00 p.m. on Sunday when the motor yacht was in an area known as Canal de Mahón.
Emergency services had initially planned to tow the 40-foot ship to the port of Mahon so firefighters could fight the blaze with more sophisticated equipment. But the coast guard ultimately decided to take it out to sea to minimize the risk of explosion before it sank.
Five days earlier, a British tourist was among three people injured when a boat exploded in a pleasure port in Cabo Roig, near Torrevieja, on the Costa Blanca.
The 37-year-old man was rushed to Torrevieja Hospital along with a 31-year-old Lithuanian woman after suffering facial burns.
A third person, a 34-year-old Spaniard, was airlifted to a Valencia hospital after suffering serious burns.
Police later described the incident as an accident, but said at the time they were still investigating.
Footage showed worried good Samaritans rushing to the scene of the explosion after seeing a ball of flames rise into the air.
The unnamed Spaniard, the most seriously injured of the three victims, was described locally as a worker who was cleaning the ship.
He suffered severe burns to the lower half of his body.
