Boat crash pair leave hospital

Cowes week ended with fireworks watched by many from the water

Two people badly hurt when their boat collided with a mooring buoy have been released from hospital.

Seven people in the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) were returning from the Cowes fireworks show to Hamble, Hampshire, at the time on Friday.

Two were thrown in the water and four suffered impact injuries, Solent Coastguard said.

Coastguards responded to 43 incidents as boats crowded in for the fireworks in rainy weather and 45-knot gusts.

Facial injuries

The fireworks display was the finale of the Cowes yachting regatta on the Isle of Wight.

Coastguards said the Hamble lifeboat was on the scene within a minute.

"This was quite a serious accident," the spokeswoman said.

"The driver of the RIB was trapped between his seat and the console by the impact."

She said the two most seriously injured were taken to Southampton General Hospital, one of them with facial injuries.

All seven were from the Hamble area.

Several boats collided or capsized and one yacht sunk in the Cowes area on Friday.

The coastguard helicopter was scrambled four times.