Thames Pleasure Cruiser Crashes into Pier

A 300-tonne pleasure boat carrying 151 passengers crashed into a pier on the Thames after its engine caught fire.

Amazingly, nobody on board was injured after the vessel ploughed into the pier at Canary Wharf at 15:40 on Sunday.

The boat was seen colliding head first with the pier after seemingly losing control of its steering. Footage posted on social media showed the vessel, with smoke billowing from the rear, careering into the wall before scraping along the side of the pier.

Staff managed to extinguish the blaze before firefighters arrived at the scene, and passengers and crew were taken off the ship by two other boats on the river.

Canary Wharf Pier was temporarily closed but has now reopened.

Eye-witness Dan Hine, 38, said:

"Looking at the top deck the passengers looked quite relaxed but you could see from the crew's faces that this was a bad situation.

"Then the ferry hit the wall with quite an impact and after that people started scrambling around and the sirens went off. There was quite a lot of black smoke at this point."

The Port of London Authority said the boat is currently "safe and secure" by the river bank with its anchor dropped, and will be towed away in due course.

If you have been injured in an accident that wasn't your fault, you may be eligible for compensation. Speak to our injury team on 0203 206 1133 to see if you have a claim.

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