60-year-old is killed while swimming off beach in Corfu
BY RECORD REPORTER
A BRITISH woman was killed by a boat propeller yesterday while on holiday in Greece.
The 60-year-old was swimming off Avlaki beach in Corfu when she was struck by the speedboat’s propeller.
She was spotted by other swimmers and was unconscious when they pulled her out of the water at about 10am.
The holidaymaker suffered “serious injuries to the lower extremities”.
Emergency services rushed to the beach but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman, whose name has not been released by police, was taken to Corfu Hospital.
A post-mortem is expected to be carried out today and her husband and eldest daughter have been informed of her death.
The Briton was described as a resident of Corfu for most of the year who was “very popular in the local community”, according to local broadcaster ERT.
Greek authorities launched an investigation into her death. It was unclear if she was swimming with family members or other British tourists at the time of the tragedy.
Greece is on the UK Government’s air bridge list and is exempt from “all but essential” travel.
It comes after an 82-year-old tourist died after being pulled unconscious from the sea off Tavronitis beach in Chania, Crete, on Sunday.
Last month, a 53-year-old woman was injured when she was struck by a boat’s propeller off the Greek island of Lefkada.
Elsewhere, Briton Eddie Jarman, 14, died after being struck by a speedboat while snorkelling off Tahiti in the Pacific.
Eddie’s family, who sold their home in Sussex to go on a round-the-world sailing trip, said: “Eddie had an amazing zest for life – a lovely boy, and so bright with talent and kindness, who loved adventure.”