Two Aussies among six tourists rescued by the US Coast Guard after yacht fire

TWO Australians are among six tourists who had to be rescued by the US Coast Guard after their yacht caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean.

A U.S. Coast Guard gun-mounted boat patrol the Hudson River in view of the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

TWO Australians are among six tourists rescued by the US Coast Guard after their yacht caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Aussies, three US citizens and a South African were taken to Puerto Rico, authorities said on Tuesday.

The Coast Guard said the five men and one woman were travelling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Antigua aboard a 110-foot (34-metre) yacht named Miracle.

Authorities said the boat caught on fire on Monday night more than 113 kilometres north of Puerto Rico’s Mona Island.

The Coast Guard said it escorted the group in the yacht’s tender, the smaller boat they had been towing.