#At least 17 people rescued from yacht inferno near Italy

At least 17 people were rescued from a yacht that caught fire and eventually sank about 50 miles off the coast of Italy, authorities said.

Video from the Italian coast guard captured flames tearing through the 155-foot ship, as thick clouds of smoke rose above it on the Mediterranean Sea.

The dramatic footage showed the blaze ravaging the vessel, until it disappeared beneath the waves.

The yacht was sailing from Capri to Porto Cervo, Sardinia, when it launched a distress signal at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the coast guard said.

Two search-and-rescue patrol boats and a helicopter responded, intercepting the shipwrecked.

Of the 17 people rescued, at least eight were passengers from Kazakhstan, according to local reports.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.