More than 500 evacuated in ship fire near Puerto Rico

Published 7:13 am Wednesday, August 17, 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — More than 500 passengers were being evacuated on Wednesday from a ship that caught fire about a mile off Puerto Rico’s north coast.

The fire was still burning aboard the Caribbean Fantasy, a combination cruise and ferry vessel, as the U.S. Coast Guard prepared a mass-rescue craft to bring passengers safely to the San Juan harbor.

No injuries have been reported and no one is missing, Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said in a phone interview.

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The fire erupted in the engine room and is currently spreading to the rest of the ship, Miami-based Coast Guard spokeswoman Marilyn Fajardo said by phone.