The Spanish coastguard has confirmed 17 people were rescued from the luxury yacht Irmao, as the 88-foot vessel was engulfed in flames early evening on Saturday (12 August 2023).

The incident occurred off the beach of Es Cavall d’En Borràs in the Ses Salines Natural Park, Formentera.

One person — a crew member — suffered minor burns and needed hospital treatment.

@m.p.group

Ieri a largo di les salines a Formentera uno yacht di 27 metri per un valore di circa 25 #milioni di euro è rimasto avvolto dalle fiamme ….. completamente distrutto fortunatamente senza vittime. #formentera #yacht #incidentiinmare

♬ suono originale – Maurizio

According to the Metro, flames spread through the yacht in just a matter of minutes, turning it into a fireball. The Salvamento Marítimo, the Spanish coastguard, intended to pull the yacht away from the beach and facilitate its later access to firefighters and divers, but the boat ended up sinking completely.

@theliving_man

Million dollar yacht bursts into flames 🔥 Luxury 88ft yacht ‘owned by professional poker player nicknamed The Lion’ goes up in flames with five crew and 12 passengers on board off in Formentera 🇪🇸. #Yacht #yachtaccident #yachtforcharter #boatforcharter

♬ suono originale – TheLivingMan

Irmao is based in Ibiza and, according to the Mirror, is marketed as being available for ‘out-of-this-world charter vacations’. It sleeps 12 in a VIP cabin, one double cabin and four twin cabins and charters for nearly £40,000 a week in high season.

The vessel reportedly belongs to Spanish poker shark Diego Gómez González, who is also known as The Lion. Gonzales earned his nickname after attending the 2012 European Poker Tour in Prague dressed in a fully-body lion costume. It’s currently unknown if Gonzales was on board at the time of the fire or whether it was being rented.

Earlier this month, two people cruising in Traverse Bay, Michigan, were forced to jump into the water after their boat burst into flames.

Main image courtesy of coastguard and @theliving_man/TikTok

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