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Two injured as fire sweeps tour boat off New Zealand coast

Xinhua, January 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Two people were injured when passengers and crew were forced to jump into the sea after a fire took hold of a tour boat off the east of New Zealand's North Island on Monday.

The ferry was carrying 57 people when it caught fire off the town of Whakatane at about 3:45 p.m. local time, said a statement from the New Zealand Police.

The 28-meter vessel was returning from a trip to White Island, an active volcano popular with sightseers, according to Radio New Zealand.

A Coastguard boat and local vessels went out to assist in recovering passengers and crew from the water, said the Police statement.

A helicopter carried out a sweep of the water to confirm everyone had been rescued.

One person was taken to hospital for suffering from smoke inhalation and one for a minor injury caused by jumping from the boat. Enditem