Two people were injured after a sailing yacht suffered an onboard explosion and a subsequent fire just off the Dutch coast on Sunday, August 2.
The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij; KNRM) station at Urk received an alert about the incident on Sunday, prompting the deployment of a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to the area.
The KNRM said the yacht's two occupants were thrown overboard by the force of the blast. They were already in the water when the blaze began to spread to the rest of their vessel.
One of the occupants was rescued by the crew of a Good Samaritan boat. A KNRM volunteer transferred from the RIB to the Good Samaritan boat to provide first aid to the rescued individual.
The KNRM RIB crew pulled the yacht's other occupant out of the water shortly afterwards. This individual was immediately brought to the KNRM Urk station, where a medical team was on standby.
The first occupant was later transferred to another KNRM vessel and was also brought to Urk that same day. Both individuals are presently under observation in hospital.
The yacht subsequently sank despite salvors' efforts to keep it afloat.