Second woman dies in jet-ski tragedy

A SECOND British woman was killed by a jet-skier on the same day that a man was fined pounds 1,000 by a court in Cyprus for ploughing into a couple on a jet-ski while he was over the alcohol limit.

Calls for tighter controls on the use of jet-skis at holiday resorts were reiterated after 18-year-old Tracy Slatter was killed instantly when a jet-ski collided with her pedal boat in the Mediterranean on Wednesday. Ms Slatter, who was from Chelmsford, Essex, was with her friend, Lyndsay Axcell, also 18, at the resort of Salou, in Spain.

Ms Axcell suffered a dislocated shoulder in the accident. Witnesses said that the jet-ski was being driven by two Dutch teenagers. One, a 14-year- old, took the controls from his 16-year-old friend moments before the tragedy.

The two women had gone to the popular Costa Dorada resort on their own for a week's holiday with the Airtours travel company.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "We are outraged at the lack of control of jet-ski hire. We do not promote any excursions involving jet-skis anywhere in the world. We don't approve of them and we discourage people from using them."

Buoys which normally cordon off part of the bay at Salou for non-motorised boats had been removed as the end of the summer season approached, it has been reported.

The accident happened on the same day that Alfred Post, also Dutch, pleaded guilty to driving a jet-ski recklessly and causing the death of 32-year- old Karen White two weeks ago in Cyprus.

Mrs White, who was from Bitterne, Southampton, was riding pillion on another jet-ski that was being driven by her husband. Her funeral in Southampton was held on the same day that Post was fined.