Four people rescued from yacht as vessel bursts into flames off the England coast

Published: 16:44, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 16:52, 5 July 2026 Four people have been rescued from a yacht which burst into flames off the southern coast of the UK. The vessel was filmed ablaze 22 miles off the Isles of Scilly after its engine reportedly exploded. It was seen slowly burning for more than four hours yesterday evening. Crew members were rescued by an RNLI lifeboat shortly before the 60ft-long boat became engulfed in flames. St Mary's RNLI was called at 5.35pm to a distress call from the vessel. They said the skipper had initially believed the fire was out and asked for a tow back to shore. The Lifeboat crew had to wait to request permission from the coastguard. During that time, the owner believed he could restart the vessel's engine. As he attempted to start it up again, black smoke began to appear from the boat and the four passengers were evacuated. They were taken back to St Mary's Harbour, as the boat continued to burn into the night. It was spotted still burning at 9.50pm.  The vessel was filmed ablaze 22 miles off the Isles of Scilly after its engine reportedly exploded A huge cloud of black smoke could be seen coming from the boat, which continued to burn for more than four hours An explosion could be seen at the back of the vessel as it was engulfed in flames A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: 'Just after 5.30pm yesterday (4 July), HM Coastguard received a report of a fire on a vessel with four people on board, 20 miles south of the Isles of Scilly. 'St Mary's RNLI lifeboat was sent. All four people were unharmed. They were rescued by lifeboat and taken to safety. 'Hourly shipping safety broadcasts are being issued. The relevant authorities have been notified, including HM Coastguard Counter Pollution. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.