Legendary heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko had to be rescued in Spain in the early hours of Monday along with his family and friends after a fire broke out on the luxury yacht where they were staying.
The Ukrainian ex-heavyweight champion, who retired in August 2017, tweeted a dramatic video of the rescue, which occurred off the coast of Mallorca.
“Be careful what you wish for: fate took my wish for “some #adrenalin” a bit too literally and our boat-trip Sunday night ended up in our boat #igniting and family & friends being evacuated by coast guard and fire rescue-team,” he posted. “No worries: we are all fine!”
The video shows firefighters on board the yacht, which is covered in firefighting foam.
“It’s 3 in the morning. We’re in the sea getting rescued from the Mallorcan/Spanish fire department, ” Klitschko could be heard saying in the video. “The boat was on fire, we’re hanging out outside.”
Smoke from the engine room
The incident occurred at around 2am on Monday when the yacht’s crew asked for urgent assistance, Palma’s Maritime Rescue spokesman Miguel Chicon told CNN.
The coastguard sent rescue boat Salvamar Acrux to the yacht’s position, which was a few mile southwest of Mallorca’s Port Adriano, Chicon said.
Since the yacht’s crew had already put down the fire, the rescue boat decided to tow the boat to Port Adriano.
“We called the firemen on shore, so they were prepared to assist in case there were other problems with the fire,” he said. At one point during the towing, smoke was coming up from the engine room, so the crew was evacuated aboard the rescue ship, Chicon added.
No medical assistance was needed for the yacht’s occupants, he said.
Klitschko, 43, retired after winning 64 of his 69 fights and retaining his heavyweight title for over nine years. His last match, in April 2017, was a knockout defeat by Anthony Joshua.