A PLEASURE cruiser went up in flames yesterday, injuring the captain and sending 41 tourists diving for their lives into the sea.
The glass-bottomed Lady Diana from Ayia Napa harbour had anchored about 500 metres off the beach at Konnos bay near Cape Greco in the Famagusta District to allow the passengers to have a swim.
When the captain, 52-year-old Antonakis Gregoriou from Paralimni, tried to restart the boat at 1.20pm he noticed smoke billowing from the engine room.He went down to investigate and seconds later there was an explosion.
Shocked tourists jumped into the water as flames then spread rapidly through the entire vessel. The emergency services were notified at 1.30pm. Two fire engines, a police launch and a police helicopter fought the fire, which was finally put out shortly before 4pm.
The water sports cabin on the beach at Konnos immediately dispatched two boats to evacuate the terrified tourists from the burning wreckage. Sunbathers also rushed into the water to help with the rescue mission.
"They were tourists – Germans, Italians and a few English. They were all worried and panicked," said Panis Ioannou, who sent out the rescue boats.
Two ambulances took 11 tourists to the Lito Clinic in Paralimni and the Napa Olympic Clinic in Ayia Napa.
Two were treated and released by late afternoon. Another two Italian tourists, both young men, were kept under medical supervision yesterday evening, along with Captain Gregoriou, who suffered second degree burns to his face, arms and legs.
Doctor Andreas Shailis at the Lito Clinic told Cyprus Mail another five tourists were treated for nervous shock.
Stephen Bramble, 24, from Dublin was one of the 11 rushed to the clinic from the scene of the accident. But by the evening he had fully recovered and was back at the hotel with his family.
"He’s absolutely fine now. We’re just about to go out and get drunk," said his father Frank. "The boat was called the Lady Diana – rather ironic really," he added.
The £250,000 glass-bottomed boat operated daily out of Ayia Napa harbour and is licensed to hold 170 passengers.
For one Swedish eyewitness, who had been on the same boat on Sunday, it was a close shave.
"My son and I were on that boat. My son is not such a strong swimmer — it could have been really nasty," he said.
Had the explosion happened further out from the cove, where the wind is stronger and the water deeper, then the accident could have had more serious consequences.
A police investigation into the incident is now under way, and the wreckage of the Lady Diana will be towed back to shore so a full examination can be carried out.
