A missing British man is feared dead after a fire broke out on a motor boat he was on off the coast of Lanzarote.
Dramatic video footage shows bright orange flames and plumes of smoke rising from the boat.
The emergency services found the vessel empty after launching a rescue operation on Friday morning when it went up in flames.
They discovered the unnamed man’s wallet in the sea near the boat – and subsequently spoke to his partner who confirmed he had left the upmarket Marina Rubicon port in Playa Blanca on Lanzarote’s southern coast alone around 7.30am.
Civil Guard said the search operation involving police, coastguards and a local authority emergency response unit was continuing after firefighters put out the blaze.
Specialist Civil Guard divers were assisting as well as a coastguard helicopter, which took the video footage of the upturned boat near the Pechiguera Lighthouse with thick black smoke rising from its hull as it was engulfed in flames.
One source confirmed: “The missing man is a British national. He hasn’t yet been located.”
He is believed to be 68 and it is understood he lives in Lanzarote.
The boat he was on has been named locally as Orca.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
One Brit holidaymaker commenting on the boat blaze wrongly claimed on social media the man on board had been found floating in the sea, despite the Civil Guard insisting last night he had yet to be located.
Another said: “Fire on a boat is never a good thing. I hope everyone is ok.”
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