An £80million British-made superyacht has gone up in flames in a luxury French resort town.
The Sea Lady II, which is chartered out for around £70,000 a week over the summer high season, was engulfed with flames in the French Riviera port of Saint-Tropez on Thursday evening.
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“Smoke was reported soon after 8pm,” said a Var department emergency services spokesman.
“The yacht’s forward hull then burst into flames, and then the fire spread to the lower decks.”
Two people believed to be crew members aged 24 and 35 were rescued, and both were suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.
There were no other reported injuries.
While the worst of the blaze was extinguished by midnight, firefighters reported “difficulties boarding the boat,” said the source.
He said: “Surrounding yachts were quickly cleared, and we set up anti-pollution barriers.
“This is because it was likely that the boat was sinking into the sea.”
As the drama unfolded in a prime berth opposite the Saint-Tropez tourist office, hundreds of tourists looked on, while filming videos and taking photos.
There was no immediate clue as to what caused the fire, but an investigation was immediately launched by the emergency services.
There was no sign of the owner, who was not immediately identified by the authorities.
The 137ft Sea Lady II was originally called D’Angleterre II after being built in the Souter yard in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.
Launched in 1986, and undergoing a full refit last year, she now sails under a Maltese flag.
She has a crew of eight, and can accommodate up to 10 passengers in her five cabins, all equipped with their own bathrooms, in five-star luxury.
Saint Tropez was first made famous by French actress Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s, and is now regularly filled with multimillionaire showbiz stars.
Arson has been blamed for a number of fires along France’s Mediterranean coast this summer, during a heatwave.
‘Malicious acts’ caused power outages in Nice, after an electrical facility was damaged last month, according to Christian Estrosi, the Mayor of the city.
There was a similar attack in Cannes, at the end of the town’s world famous film festival in May.
Wildfires reached nearby Marseille on Tuesday, leading to the airport serving France’s second city to be shut down.
Train services in the area were also suspended because of fires near the tracks, said a spokesman for SNCF, France’s train operator.
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