A 66-year-old British woman died in a parasailing accident in Benidorm, prompting a manslaughter investigation. Beverley White was enjoying a tandem parasailing ride with a man on August 10 at around 6pm when a 'freak storm' struck the Spanish resort and the sky turned black.
The strong winds reportedly snapped the parachute cord attaching them to the boat, sending them crashing into the sea. The pair were dragged along the surface towards the rocks before the speedboat urgently raced after them. During the ordeal, Beverley suffered a heart attack and was later treated by paramedics in an ambulance when the boat eventually made it back to shore.
Hospital treatment and witness account
She was taken to Villajoyosa Hospital, near Benidorm, but doctors were unable to save her. The man she was with suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Kerriann Blagden, 40, from Doncaster, saw the tragedy unfold from her hotel's balcony. She told The Sun: “We were looking out to sea when it happened. The weather just changed all of a sudden and took the parachute off. They then dropped to the sea and the wind caught the parachute again and was dragging them across the sea.”
Investigation and alleged concealment
Spanish police have since launched the manslaughter probe, as well as investigating an alleged attempt to conceal who was controlling the speedboat. A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: “The Civil Guard has concluded its investigation into a parasailing accident. The accident occurred while both victims were participating in the activity in tandem, being towed by a boat.
“At a certain point, the cable connecting the parachute to the boat broke, causing both of them to be dragged by the wind until they fell into the sea.”
He added: “During the investigation, detectives analysed the circumstances surrounding the accident, including the conditions at the time, as the weather was deteriorating with a storm and strong gusts of wind. Another aspect was who was actually in command of the boat at the time. Initially, a person linked to the company responsible for the activity identified himself to the officers as the boat's skipper.
“However, he later acknowledged that he was not the person in command at the time of the accident and identified another employee as responsible, with the investigation determining that it was the latter who was operating the boat.”
Legal consequences and inquest
The spokesman confirmed the second man did have the required qualifications to operate the boat. However, he was not listed as crew with the company at the time of the fatal accident. He said: “As a result of the probe, two people are under investigation, one of them for the alleged offences of manslaughter and wounding and the second for an alleged offence of concealment.”
The two men are due to be summoned for questioning by a court in Benidorm, but have not been arrested. Another witness recalled: “The sudden gust of wind broke the rope and they became separated from the boat. The boat tried to chase after them but even going at full whack speed, it couldn't catch up.”
Beverley's inquest was opened and adjourned earlier this month at Cornwall's Coroner's Court in Truro. The court heard the 66-year-old went into cardiac arrest after landing in the sea and the efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. A full hearing is set to be continued at a later date.
