Dramatic moment tourist boat in Brit holiday hotspot erupts in flames as passengers jump into the sea to escape

THIS is the terrifying moment a massive blaze erupted on a tourist boat on a Greek island sending panicked passengers jumping into the water.

Dramatic footage shows the boat engulfed in flames after a fire broke out off the coast of Rhodes.

The ship, carrying 96 passengers, was heading to Lindos when it went up in flames near Stegna Beach in the town of Archangelos.

The inferno engulfed the Maggelanos boat on Thursday afternoon with the fire service rushing to the scene.

A horrified British passenger described how people were forced to jump into the water as the blaze quickly ripped through the wooden vessel.

Shaun Williams, 55, from St. Ives, Cornwall, had just arrived on the island the day before with his wife Nicola and two sons Lewis, 17, and Charlie, 9.

They decided to go on a half-day boat trip around Rhodes in the afternoon.

They were only half an hour into the trip when they stopped at a bay called Stegna Beach for snorkelling.

He told The Sun Online: "We heard the crew shouting and running up and down and going for the fire extinguishers.

"Then we saw the smoke coming out and they started handing out life jackets.

"We were at the top of the boat at the time so we couldn't see the fire but then the captain said 'everybody off.'

"So we had to jump because we couldn't go down the stairs because there were so many people there.

"We had to jump over to the lower deck and all we could see was a wall of flames.

"At the back end, we saw the fire so we jumped on the water.

"We were terrified- there were lots of children on the boat.

"Everybody got into the water- a few minutes later from where we were stood it was totally ablaze."

Shocking footage shows black smoke billowing in the air as the boat is entirely covered in flames while tourists from a nearby boat watched in horror.

Rhodes Central Port Authority which is conducting the preliminary investigation into the fire has arrested the ship's captain as well as another member of the crew, ERT reported.

Shaun added: "A lot of small boats came around and picked up as many people as they could."

All passengers were rescued as five EKAV ambulances rushed to the area while Rhodes Hospital was placed on high alert.

A nine-year-old girl was taken to the hospital with minor burns and a 50-year-old woman suffered some minor injuries.

The rest of the passengers were later transferred to their hotels by bus.

The ship was completely destroyed before it sank. with authorities saying they would deal with the marine pollution.