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Griff jumps from burning boat ... into shark waters
23 Jan 2009Griff Rhys Jones jumped from a burning boat into waters which minutes earlier he had been told were populated with hammerhead sharks, it emerged today.
The comedian, his wife Jo and 15 friends and crew took to the water after a blaze broke out in the boat's engine room.
The party jumped on the orders of the captain who, minutes earlier, warned them that the deadly sharks were in the water around the Galapagos Islands. In the panic, the 55-year-old television star lost his graphic designer wife.
“Griff was at the stern of the boat and Jo was at the bow and they lost each other for a good 10 minutes,” a source said. “It was truly terrifying and Jo feared the worst.”
The party spent 30 minutes in the sea before they were rescued by an American cruise ship which took them to Ecuador 600 miles away. Most had no ID or money. Rhys Jones lost his laptop which contained his near completed book. “He had to leave it behind to his immense frustration,” said the source, who added that when the party were told they were in shark territory “everyone laughed” until they were forced into the sea.
“They were not so jolly when they were swimming for their lives. There was panic, as you could barely see in front of you because of the smoke. Griff was brilliant and kept cracking jokes to keep everyone's spirits up.”
A spokesman for Rhys Jones, a keen sailor who owns a 45ft yacht named Undina, said: “He's back home and everyone is fine.”
Reader views (3)
What's all the fuss Hammer head sharks are pretty harmless.
- pete, South of England, 24/01/2009 16:07
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Sharks don't eat fawning little BBC dwarfs.
- Fred, London, 24/01/2009 07:54
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Oh, the poor sharks! I feel so sorry for them, having that nasty little man in their midst!
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx, 23/01/2009 13:49
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