Dramatic moment shipwrecked family including two boys aged 11 and eight are rescued after their boat caught fire and sank while on a fishing trip
- Joe Davies and his sons Sonny and Rudy were fishing in Poole Harbour, Dorset
- Shocking footage shows the father help his sons to rescue after the fire
This is the dramatic moment a shipwrecked family including two young boys were rescued after their boat caught fire and sank while on a fishing trip.
Joe Davies and his sons, Sonny, 11, and Rudy, eight, were fishing in Poole Harbour, Dorset, when the engine on their 15feet rigid inflatable boat went up in flames.
Fearing the fire would cause an explosion, Mr Davies helped his sons into the water before swimming to a nearby isolated beach on the Arne peninsula.
Mr Davies raised the alarm using his mobile phone that had been in a waterproof bag.
While they waited for rescue to come, the family looked on as the blazing boat sank.
This is the dramatic moment a shipwrecked family including two young boys were rescued after their boat caught fire and sank while on a fishing trip
Joe Davies and his two sons, Sonny, 11, and Rudy, eight, were fishing in Poole Harbour, Dorset, when the engine on their 15ft rigid inflatable boat went up in flames
The shocking footage shows the lifeboat crew from Poole RNLI arriving on the scene minutes later to pluck the trio to safety.
All three were wearing lifejackets.
Mr Davies said: ‘The fire took hold pretty quickly, and with the fuel tanks on board I didn’t know what was going to explode.
‘There was no other option than to bail out.
‘Luckily, we all had our buoyancy aids on and it was low tide, so we didn’t have to swim too far before we reached the shore.
‘Within five minutes the boat was fully ablaze.
The wreckage of the boat was seen sinking into the water after it caught fire while holding the boat
Shocking footage shows the lifeboat crew from Poole RNLI arriving on the scene minutes later to pluck the trio to safety
‘We were very lucky with where it happened – if we were back where we were fishing it would have been a different story.’
He added: ‘I can’t praise the RNLI enough for how quickly they got out to us and the treatment we received.
‘The boys were very cold and shaky and we got taken to the station for hot showers, a change of clothes and cups of tea.’
Dave Bursey, an RNLI volunteer, carried the boys to the lifeboat.
He said: ‘We were very pleased when we arrived on scene to see that all three casualties had made it to shore safely and nobody had been injured in the fire.
‘Fortunately, they were all wearing buoyancy aids and weren’t too far from the shore.
‘The dad did the right thing in carrying a means for calling help in a waterproof pouch, then dialling 999 and asking for the coastguard as soon as it was safe to do so.’
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