Pleasure boat Erasmus ploughs into Canary Wharf pier after engines fail following a fire

A pleasure boat Erasmus ploughed into a Canary Wharf pier after both its engines failed following a fire in the engine room. All the 150 people on board the boat were evacauted and no serious injuries were reported.

The boat was reported to be travelling along the Southwark river in central London when both engines failed on Sunday afternoon 11 September. Video footage showed the boat named Eramus heading towards the Canary Wharf pier before crashing into the wall.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that it was called at 4.20pm local time on reports of a fire on board near Canary Wharf pier. "The boat was evacuated and all of those on board were brought to shore. There were no reports of any significant injuries."

A Port of London Authority spokesman said that both of the boat's engines had failed following a fire. Around 142 passengers and six crew members were rescued from the boat. Three other crew members remained on board, Daily Mail reports.

A total of eight fire engines and a fireboat rushed to the boat, a London Fire Brigade spokesman said.

Dan Hine, a 38-year-old video producer from Limehouse in Southeast London captured the incident on his smartphone while walking along the river with his wife Yari, Daily Mail reports. The video has been posted on his Facebook page.

Hine said: "I remember thinking 'this is isn't going to end well.' We thought it was going to park at the pier but it overshot it ... There were a lot of people on board and they looked like they were celebrating an event.

He continued: "We heard babies crying on board and I was concerned about the fire and my wife phoned the police straight away. We saw a police helicopter and a number of ambulances arrive on the scene, luckily no one was seriously hurt."