Photos: Passengers jump for their lives as boat catches fire and explodes on the River Thames in London

Passengers had to jumped overboard when a boat got engulfed in flames and ‘blew up’ along the river Thames in London.

According to eye witnesses, the incident occured in Twickenham, south-west London and flames was seen billowing from the 20-foot river cruiser, that was completely destroyed in the inferno.

Eight people were rescued in the water by a private boat before the fire brigade got there. The London Ambulance Service also confirmed that three people with minor injuries were taken to a hospital.

The London Fire Brigade were called to the scene at 3.17pm on Saturday, September 21st and by 4.42pm the blaze was under control.

Dormer X Factor contestant Rhydian Roberts, who came second place in series four, filmed the incident and shared it on Twitter saying; ‘just watched a boat blow up on the Thames near Twickenham. Happened so fast. Some minor injuries but all on board are now safe! I look this pic after a while. Unbelievable how quickly it went. Dramatic here.’

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘we were called at 3.16pm on September 21 to Orleans Road, Twickenham, to reports of a fire on a boat on the River Thames. We dispatched a number of resources to the scene including two incident response officers, an advanced paramedic and our hazardous area response team (HART). We assessed three people with minor injuries and took one to hospital.’