Twenty pulled rescued from Biesbosch water after jumping off burning boat

A fire on a pleasure boat in the Biesbosch gave around 20 teenagers quite a fright on Monday evening. An alert scouting boat were able to rescue the youngsters, pulling most of them out of the water after they jumped overboard. No one sustained serious injuries, AD reports. 

The group of 16 and 17-year-olds were on a staff outing from Jacobushoeve in Dorst. The fire was caused by a leaky gas bottle around 7:45 p.m. "A young colleagues saw fire coming out of the barbecue. And then it went very fast. Most jumped overboard, but me and five or six stayed and kept hosing and cooling. Therefore only the roof burnt down", Bas van der Weele said to the newspaper. 

According to the Dordrecht Rescue Society, there were 22 people on board the boat - all of them were rescued unharmed. 

The boat was at Sint Jansbruggetje, which is not accessible by car. An air ambulance and a fire department boat was deployed to the scene. The scouting boat took the youngsters to the Amaliahoeve and then to the fire department's boat house in the Drimmelen harbor.