Nine people were injured when a pleasure boat was involved in a collision with Tower Bridge on the Thames today.

London Coastguard
co-ordinated the emergency response to an incident, which involved the Millennium
Diamond pleasure boat, run by City Cruises, just after midday.

A London Ambulance
spokesman reported on Twitter: ‘We’ve treated nine patients following an incident
involving a boat at St Katherine’s Pier.’

The RNLI’s Tower lifeboat station crewwere the first on scene and
treated a 65-year-old woman, believed to have fallen down a set
of steel steps,who
had suffered a head injury and bruises to her ribs.
London Ambulance Service paramedics then arrived and took her away for further
treatment.

RNLI volunteer Kevin Maynard said: ‘Although the original call to us was
related to that one lady, while we were on scene more people came
forward to say they had been injured.’

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘It’s believed that 10 people on board were injured, five were treated at the scene and the others were taken to hospital.

‘It’s not
thought the boat has been badly damaged but a Maritime and Coastguard
Agency surveyor is inspecting the vessel this afternoon.’