Passengers aboard Florida casino shuttle are lucky. Their boat caught fire and rescuers saved their lives

All 50 passengers aboard a casino shuttle boat were able to escape to shore after the vessel caught fire Sunday afternoon, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses said passengers jumped for their lives into the chilly, 50-degree waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Video shot by nearby boaters shows the vessel along the shoreline engulfed in flames with smoke billowing high into the sky.

“All passengers were able to make it to shore where EMS treated them,” according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

Pasco deputies and Port Richey police officers, assisted by firefighters, Coast Guard personnel and FWC officers, were called at 4:17 p.m. to assist in rescuing passengers and crew.

All of the 50 people aboard the shuttle that serves Port Richey-based SunCruz Ltd. have been accounted for, said Port Richey Chief of Police Gerard DeCanio.

The fire started in the boat’s engine room, authorities said at a 6 p.m. news conference.

The boat’s captain tried to return to the dock but could get no closer than about 100 feet from shore before flames overtook the vessel, authorities said.

Officials said two deputies who first arrived jumped into the water and began rescuing passengers. One official said about 15 people were rescued, and civilians along the shoreline assisted in the life-saving efforts. Some swam to shore, while others were pulled from the water, according to Spectrum Bay News 9.

Pasco County fire officials said 15 people complained of chest pain and smoke inhalation and were taken for treatment, according to the Associated Press.

Pasco County Fire Rescue official Shawn Whited said some passengers jumped in the water to get away from the fire and swam to shore before the rescue boats could arrive, the AP reports.

Authorities said that all injuries sustained by passengers are not life threatening. A Pasco County bus was brought to the scene to transport wet but uninjured passengers, according to Bay News 9.

The shuttle ferries passengers to and from the Tropical Breeze casino boat, which is anchored in the Gulf of Mexico three miles off the coast in international waters, officials said.

The shuttle boat remained on fire at 7 p.m., nearly three hours after the blaze was first reported.

This story was originally published January 14, 2018 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Passengers aboard Florida casino shuttle are lucky. Their boat caught fire and rescuers saved their lives."