The crew of a Spanish fishing boat which caught fire has been rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard.

The vessel, the 30-metre Monte Galineirom, was about 400 km (250 miles) east of St John's, Newfoundland, when the fire started.

Crew members abandoned ship and were picked up by a coast guard vessel soon after. One man was flown to hospital in St John's with smoke inhalation.

The rest of the crew was due to arrive in port on Monday.

"The coast guard ship happened to be only 10 minutes away," Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Jeri Grychowski was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

"It was a real stroke of good luck that they were so close and could respond quickly."

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