London boat fire: 30 tourists rescued

Tour boat passengers jumped into River Thames to escape a fire on their World War II-era amphibious vehicle near London’s parliament house on Sunday, the emergency services said. Up to 30 tourists were rescued from the water after a fire broke out in the boat just before lunchtime, a fire official said. Video footage of the scene showed flames and smoke billowing from the front of the vessel as rescuers pulled passengers wearing life jackets to safety on the nearby river bank. ‘People are clearly cold, wet and in shock but they were pulled from the water really quickly. A number of people jumped into the water but they were soon rescued and fortunately at this stage it does not look like anyone has been seriously injured,’ said Neil Withers, a manager at the London fire brigade.