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Girl, 11, drowns in sailing accident on Greek holiday

Lesley Richardson,Mark Sage
Saturday 02 August 2003 00:00 BST
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A British girl has drowned after getting trapped under a catamaran near Paleros in western Greece.

Laura Morgan, 11, from Nottinghamshire, was sailing a Hobie 15 catamaran on Thursday with two older girls who were experienced sailors when the boat capsized. She had been on holiday with her mother and elder sister.

Rescuers made desperate efforts to resuscitate Laura, but she later died in hospital, according to a spokesman for Sunsail, who the family had booked the holiday with.

The conditions at the time were "benign, force two, gentle swell and conditions good for sailing", according to the spokesman, when the boat turned over and trapped Laura underneath it.

A rescue boat was at the scene within minutes but failed to free the teenager. A second rescue boat arrived and the rescuers took turns in administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Laura while she was underwater.

The team freed Laura and continued with attempts at resuscitation while taking her to the beach, where doctors were on hand. She was taken to Levkas hospital but pronounced dead. The two girls are said to be traumatised.

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