Tourists have been forced to jump for their lives from a burning wooden ship docked on shore in Vietnam.
The Aphrodite cruise ship was carrying 37 tourists when it caught fire while docked in Ha Long Bay last Friday (May 6).
The three-storey ship was engulfed in flames, forcing many of those on board to climb down the ship and jump overboard before being plucked from the water into other boats in the harbour.
Tourists have been forced to jump for their lives from a burning wooden ship docked on shore in Vietnam. Photo: Lin Shen Kh'ng Youtube
Video shows terrified passengers flinging belongings into the water and towards the dock as dozens scramble over railings and slide onto the levels below.
One by one, the tourists gain the courage to jump overboard as the flames become bigger and close in.
Aphrodite Cruises took to Facebook where it said they're "deeply saddened" by the incident.
"There are four people suffer minor injuries including one crew member," they wrote.
"More than 40 people on board with 37 foreign tourists who come from Taiwan, France, Switzerland, UK, New Zealand, Korea, and India. 33 passengers were taken back to Hanoi safely."
The three-storey ship was engulfed in flames, forcing many of those on board to climb down the ship and jump overboard before being plucked from the water into other boats in the harbour. Photo: Lin Shen Kh'ng Youtube
Regarding the cause of the incident, Colonel Vu Van Duong (deputy director of fire protection police in Quang Ninh) said that (usually, incident is related to electrical or gas used in the kitchen. It could be due to careless visitor and staff who smoke and ignore fire prevention.
"Mr Duong said that the wooden ship with many flammable substances, is not equipped with automatic fire-fighting system, so when the fire starts it become very difficult to control."
The crew members on board were qualified in fire-fighting operations.
Bystanders capture the moment a cruise ship went up in flames, forcing tourists on board to jump for their lives. Photo: YouTube/Lin Shen Kh'ng
Source: AUYahooNews