Eleven people were hospitalised after more than 40 people escaped a tourist boat that became engulfed in flames and began sinking on the Great Barrier Reef off the central Queensland coast.
The 23m (75-foot) catamaran, Spirit of 1770, was 10 nautical miles from Lady Musgrave Island, east of Gladstone, around 4pm on Wednesday when its 42 passengers and four crew were forced to jump from the burning boat and seek refuge in life rafts after a fire in the engine room spread.
Terror as 42 rescued from burning tourist boat off Queensland https://t.co/adaC9F17LW pic.twitter.com/EJXp7eiDxR
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Most of those on board were Chinese tourists, Nine Network television reported Thursday.
Three vessels ferried by volunteer marine rescue were sent to collect the group but they did not reach shore for several hours.
The Gladstone police Inspector Darren Somerville said the process of transferring them back to shore at Gladstone was slow and described the incident as terrifying for the tourists.
“The number of people in the life rafts and the logistics in transferring from a life raft to a vessel just took some time,” he told ABC Radio. “It was terrifying for all of them, we’re just thankful that everyone is accounted for and no one suffered any major injuries.”
The Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor, Michael Lowe, said 19 passengers required treatment once they reached shore, with 11 taken to hospital in a stable condition.
“The majority of those were hypothermic and seasick,” he said, adding that others suffered rib fractures, back pain and chest pains.
The catamaran was returning to the town of 1770 after a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island when it caught fire and was abandoned 30 minutes later, police said.
The town of 1770 was named after the year that British explorer James Cook and the crew of HM Endeavour landed on that stretch of the coast.
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