Six rescued from Channel ship fire

Firefighters were flown aboard the Sea Riss, pictured here in 1998

Six crew members have been rescued from a burning cargo ship in the English Channel.

Rescue services were called out to the steel-carrying Sea Riss after a huge fire broke out in one of the ship's funnels at about 1900 GMT on Thursday.

The 1,600 tonne Dutch-registered vessel was on its way from Dunkirk to Northfleet, and was 14 miles off Ramsgate at the time of the incident.

Barry Woodwood, from Dover Coastguard, said the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Sir Percival was first on the scene.

Damp down

"Their firefighting team were put on board but unfortunately it was a little more than they could handle so we called out Kent Fire Brigade," he said.

An RAF rescue helicopter flew the firefighters from Manston to help tackle the fire.

The fire crews were winched on board the ship, which was without power, at about 2050 GMT.

A Royal Navy vessel and a coastguard helicopter were scrambled to deal with the incident, as was a coastguard tug from Dover.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the ship's master tried to damp down the fire while the rest of the crew gathered on the deck.

Another firefighting team from Kent were on standby at the shore in case further assistance was needed.

The fire was put out shortly before midnight, and no-one was injured.

The ship is now anchored off Margate while repairs and an investigation into the fire's cause are carried out.