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Family sue boat firm No answers 3 years on Rugby fans warned to snub web ticket rip-offs
ONE of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space.
It is bigger than the UK, Holland and Switzerland combined. The GBR is composed of living coral growing on dead coral and is around 20million years old. Around 10 per cent of the world’s total fish species can be found there.
Half of it has been bleached to death since 2016 by rising water temperatures caused by climate change. These destroy colourful algae, starving it. RUGBY fans have been warned not to risk buying rip-off World Cup tickets from online touts on sites like StubHub and Viagogo.
Prices for the final have already hit £22,000 – 29 times the face value. A £53 seat for England’s clash with France on October 12 is for sale at £3,000.
And the dearest £381 tickets for the opening game between hosts Japan and Russia on September 20 are being offered for £9,219.
But rugby bosses say tickets resold by touts will be cancelled – leaving buyers out of pocket and THE family of a British student who drowned on the Great Barrier Reef are suing a boat firm in a bid for answers after three painful years.
Tashfeen Mirza, 20, died while on a group snorkelling trip 30 miles off Cairns, Australia.
He was a capable swimmer and his family want to know how he could drift off without being noticed. They also claim there was a delay in launching a search after a pal raised the alarm.
Tashfeen’s brother Janaed, 25, said: “He was a decent swimmer and loved being in water. How can someone snorkelling just disappear? After three years we still don’t know what happened.
“The conditions were great. There is no way Tash should have ended up a kilometre away without being noticed. Another boat was acting as a lookout but they clearly failed to see him.”
Tashfeen, who studied economics in his home city of Sheffield, was among dozens of tourists on the 60ft catamaran Reefkist when he vanished.
Official reports say he was last seen on board at 12.30pm on February 15, 2016. Trippers then went snorkelling near Briggs Reef, east of Fitzroy Island.
A search was launched when Tash did not return by 2pm and his body was found by a helicopter crew at 4.25pm.
His family are set to instruct lawyers to sue the Cairns Dive Centre. They claim some customers criticised safety briefings, which were reportedly difficult to hear, and noted the apparent lack of experience of some of the staff.
Janaed added: “He was with a friend, Dean, who felt uncomfortable in the water and got back on board. He could not see Tash and flagged it with staff.
“It was that company’s job to look out and protect Tash. This is not about money, it’s about standards. It’s too late for Tash but maybe we can help others.”
There is no obligation on Cairns Dive Company to attend a UK inquest. South Yorkshire Coroner Christopher Dorries told a pre-inquest hearing: “We can ask them to co-operate. If they do not, we are stuck. My personal view is that they are unlikely to co-operate but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.”
Cairns Dive Centre did not comment. unable to see the match. Viagogo claims it is helping people who can no longer attend to pass on their tickets and set the value.
But campaigners say sellers are often touts who buy as many as they can to resell at big mark-ups.
Last November the High Court ordered Viagogo and other sites to
DIFFICULT
identify users who sell more than 100 tickets a year. Buyers must be told of the face value and if they risk being turned away at the door.
Rugby chiefs offer a face-value resale service.
Neither Viagogo or StubHub responded to comment requests.