Nine injured in jet boat crash

SKIPPERS Canyon Jet staff have confirmed all their services have been suspended following yesterday’s boat crash near Queenstown.

Nine people were injured at about 10am when the boat, right, crashed into a wall in Skippers Canyon. A middle-aged Canadian woman was flown to Dunedin Hospital with a suspected broken femur, and the others were airlifted to Lakes Hospital with minor injuries.

Skippers Canyon Jet marketing manager Gavin Larsen said the company did not yet know the cause of the accident.

He said the jet boat crashed head-on into the vertical wall of the canyon.

The passengers included five tourists from Thailand and two from Canada.

The one staff member on board remained at the scene. Some of the customers with minor injuries had already been discharged from hospital, he said.

Skippers Canyon Jet sales manager Kayleigh Cord said services had been suspended during an investigation into the incident.

The jet boat trip took about 30 minutes, she said. The incident occurred when ‘‘the boat had turned around to come back down to our base’’.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has opened a probe into the crash, and a Maritime New Zealand team from Invercargill is on the way.

Stuff