- More than 30 children rescued from burning boat
- Ferries diverted after fire in Port Philip Bay
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Schoolchildren were among 22 people rescued from a burning ferry after it caught fire in Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay.
Police said the ship’s engine compartment caught fire in the waters off Queenscliff, a town on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula, around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
A second ferry and a Parks Victoria boat helped rescue 22 people on board.
Police then turned off the ferry and brought it ashore.
“The exact circumstances of the fire remain to be determined, but the fire is not considered suspicious,” police said in a statement.
No injuries were reported.
Dozens of schoolchildren were pulled from a burning boat after it caught fire in Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay this morning (photo)
A caller to radio station 3AW revealed they saw more than 20 students rescued during an emergency operation on the water.
She told host Tom Elliot that the ferry she was traveling on had to be diverted while the rescue was underway.
“It looks like there are about 30 kids wearing life jackets,” she said.
There are two ferry routes to Port Phillip, one between Portarlington and Docklands and another between Melbourne and Geelong.
It is unclear whether either route was interrupted by maritime rescue.