Berlusconi’s speedboat skipper ‘in crash that killed British man’

THE skipper of a speedboat owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, is being investigated over a crash that killed a wealthy British businessman amid reports the two craft involved may have been racing.

Dean Kronsbein died and his wife and daughter were gravely injured when their 70ft-long boat, the Amore, smashed into a rocky islet off the coast of Sardinia on Sunday.

The boat’s Italian captain is being investigated in relation to the incident as police and coastguard try to ascertain the cause of the accident. Prosecutors said the skipper of the other boat, the Sweet Dragon, which belongs to Mr Berlusconi, was also under investigation. Both vessels have been impounded.

There are suggestions in the Italian press that the two powerful boats may have been racing each other when the Amore veered off and slammed into rocks, ripping a hole in its hull.

The captain of the Amore told investigators he had been forced to swerve dramatically to avoid colliding with the Sweet Dragon.

The impact threw Mr Kronsbein, 61, into the sea. Rescuers found him alive but he died on the way to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Mr Kronsbein’s wife, Sabine, 59, and daughter, Sophia, 27, are in a serious condition. Sophia had surgery for head injuries at a hospital in Sassari, Sardinia.

Sabine, who suffered serious trauma and bone fractures, is being cared for in a hospital in Olbia, also in Sardinia.

They are expected to be taken by air ambulance to a private clinic in the UK when they are strong enough to fly.

The Sweet Dragon, a sleek Magnum 70 speedboat, returned survivors of the crash to the shore after its crew reportedly pulled them out of the water.