Baby escapes uninjured after dad saves family by crashing boat into Devon rocks
Watch the rescue above
Pictures from RNLI
A father has been praised for saving his family after his boat started sinking off the Devon coast.
He ran the 24ft vessel aground on rocks near Torquay, allowing his family - which included a baby and three other children - to get to safety.
The family was then rescued by lifeboats and taken ashore.
Pictures from the scene show the baby and three other children being passed to safety by the lifeboat crew.
A total of six people were rescued in the incident on Tuesday, 8 September.
RNLI Torbay Coxswain Mark Criddle praised the father for his actions.
“We launched both RNLI Torbay lifeboats to the scene because their position was unsure and we knew we had to find them quickly.
“When we arrived on scene our volunteers ferried the young children one by one to the safety of our all-weather lifeboat, followed by the adults.
“The family were distressed but otherwise unharmed although their vessel could not be saved. This man's quick-thinking saved his family's life."
Two boats from the Torbay Harbour Authority went to the scene to recover debris and disperse spilled fuel.
A light diesel slick was reported to be spreading from the vessel, reported to be a former commercial fishing boat called Sea Breeze.
The boat is due to be recovered on Wednesday, 9 September.
Read more: