Brit mum of son, 13, killed alongside cousin, 15, in parasailing accident fainted and cried ‘where are the children?’
THE British mother of a boy killed alongside his cousin while parasailing in Rhodes reportedly fainted when she saw her second son’s injuries and came to asking: “Where are the other children?”
The brothers, aged 13 and 15, and their female cousin, 15, fell onto a stretch of coastal rocks on the Greek island when the rope connecting them to a speedboat snapped in strong winds on Wednesday.
The 13-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl died from their injuries, while the 15-year-old boy remains in a “serious condition with multiple injuries”.
The boy has reportedly been placed in a medically-induced coma.
The teenagers are thought to have fallen from around 400 feet in the air, 100 feet over the height limit for parasailing on most Greek islands.
Eyewitnesses described how the mother of the 15-year-old boy fainted when she saw him being carried into hospital on a stretcher.
When she came round she reportedly asked: “Where are the other two children?”
Doctors at the hospitals had only just been told by port authorities that the children had died, while the parents had believed they were injured and being transferred in another ambulance, local outlet Protothema reported.
Police said the owner of the sea sport business and the speed boat captain have both been arrested following the accident.
“They have been ordered to appear before a public prosecutor,” one police source told Sun Online.
The age limit for parasailing in the region is 16, while the use of three-seater parachutes for the sport was reportedly banned last year.
ROPE ‘CLEARLY NOT STRONG ENOUGH’
Questions have also been raised about whether stormy conditions contributed to the accident, and whether the group should have been allowed to parasail in such strong winds.
One source said: “It was a horrific accident.
“Three of them were all up in the sky at an extremely high altitude when the rope attached to their parachute and the speedboat snapped.
“It clearly wasn’t strong enough to be pulling all three of them at the same time.
“Strong winds carried them across the sky and moments later they smashed into a cliff-face on the beach.
“All of them were parasailing at the same time but it is illegal for three to be doing it at once.”
The Greek coastguard confirmed the first two children were found dead on the rocks near Cape Gina, while the third was found nearby by firefighters.
A holidaymaker who saw the glider on the rocks after the accident said: “Fire engines attended the scene but couldn’t actually get anywhere near the accident, due to the lack of roads round the mountainside.”
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The family of the three youngsters were reportedly holidaying in the area of Pefki village, near the resort of Lindos.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British people following their death in Rhodes, and are in contact with the Greek authorities.”