Dad brawls with speedboat cop who killed his daughter, seven
A BRITISH schoolgirl has been killed in a speedboat accident while on holiday with her parents in Albania.
Jonada Avdia, seven, was playing in the shallows of a designated swimming area just five yards from the shore when an off-duty policeman drove into her, according to local media.
Arjan Tase allegedly ignored buoys marking out the boat exclusion zone and crashed into Jonada after dropping off relatives on the beach.
The boat’s propeller blades ‘caused serious injuries that led to immediate loss of life’ last Tuesday near Potam beach on the country’s southern coast.
Jonada, from Barking, east London, was on holiday with her Albanian father, Bledar, and her mother. Mr Avida brawled with the off-duty officer in the waves following the tragedy.
He told local media: ‘I was bathing together with my daughter near the shore, I saw a white boat with two people on board.
‘It came in our direction and came at hellish speed. I dived down under the water and the craft hit my daughter with the engine part, cutting her all over.’
Tase was arrested and 15 officers who were supposed to be guarding the water have been sacked. Tase, a police chief from the city of Elbasan, was due to appear in court yesterday where he is being probed for ‘negligent homicide’.
Candles and flowers have been placed where Jonada lost her life. Her death sparked protests across the country, with marchers clashing with police in the capital of Tirana on Thursday.
Tourism minister Mirela Kumbaro blamed Tase and the national police chief for Jonada’s death. ‘An angel is no longer among us because of the stupidity of a man who broke every law, every rule and every norm with tragically irreversible consequences,’ she said.