From fire, through sharks, to safety

British comedian Griff Rhys Jones explained how he and his wife escaped death by leaping from a blazing boat into shark-infested waters.

The couple were separated in the darkness after jumping off the vessel, which was anchored off the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of South America.

Rhys Jones, his wife and 13 British friends were woken up by the crew as flames and smoke billowed from the engine room.

They jumped into the sea — where they knew there were hammerhead and reef sharks — after they were warned that the vessel could explode.

Rhys Jones, 55, a keen sailor, said: “All of a sudden, we saw huge yellow flames shooting up from the boat.

One of the crew jumped into the sea and started swimming away from the boat and we were all encouraged to follow as the lifeboats had caught fire.

“We were lucky because we were in a bay and a boat was anchored nearby. We were in the water for only about five minutes until it picked us up.

I watched the boat sink, much to my surprise. I had always imagined that a fire on a big boat would eventually go out but it didn't.''

The blaze broke out after a day of cruising and when the 125-foot Parranda was anchored half a mile off the island of Bartholomew in about 60 feet of water.

Wilson, 58, a theatre producer and chief executive of the Theatre Royal in Norwich, said: “We had gone to our cabins at about 9pm.

At about 11pm, I was awakened by the sound of someone banging on my window.

I went out on the deck and heard shouting that the boat might blow up. Within six or eight minutes of waking up, we were all jumping into the water.''

It happened so swiftly that no one had time to wear life jackets. The blaze took place on the third night of a week-long trip to the Galapagos Islands.

After the rescue, the Britons were flown to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and were issued new passports before being flown home.