Freak Wind Caused Boy's Parasailing Death

A 10-year-old boy was killed in a parasailing accident in Dubai when a freak squall snapped the rope he was attached to and sent him careering into the roof of a beachside mosque, an inquest heard yesterday.

Tony Loyden's father dived into the sea to try to catch the boy but could only watch helplessly as he was swept inshore by winds of almost 30mph.

Initially the boatmen in charge of the parasailing trips were convicted of manslaughter, because the driver of the speedboat was not properly trained and the pair had not checked the weather forecast.

However, they were cleared on appeal after it was judged they could not have anticipated the squall.

The schoolboy from Plymouth and his parents, Tony, 49, and Patsy, 48, were living in Dubai when the family decided to go parasailing with friends. The boy was so excited that his father let the youngster go ahead of him.

Within minutes of Tony going up on the parachute the wind speed increased from 7.3mph to 29.9mph. The force of the parachute made the boat heel over and the rope snapped, sending the boy flying towards shore.

The boat tried to follow him but his father Tony leapt into the sea and swam ashore as the boy flew towards the roof of the Rashid Mosque.

Tony, who did not wear a helmet, suffered serious head and neck injuries and could not be saved.

Plymouth acting coroner Derek Pepperell said: "The boy's father got to the beach and rushed to the mosque but there was nothing anyone could do."

Describing the tragedy, the coroner said: "The family went out on this boat to go parasailing and Mrs Loyden went up successfully and her son then went up. He did not have a helmet but frankly I am not sure that would have made the slightest difference.

"All was going well for a while when the wind increased to four times its previous speed. There was no warning of this on the weather forecast and nothing to indicate it was going to happen.

"The assistant boat driver controlling the winch started to bring the parasail down and it was 10 to 20 metres from the boat when the rope parted suddenly.

"Unfortunately, Tony continued with the parachute and collided with a mosque, suffering injuries to his head from which he died almost instantly."

The coroner said there was no evidence of gross negligence.

He said: "The boatmen failed to check the weather forecast but it would not have helped them because there was no suggestion of this sudden change. The rope was quite new and there is no suggestion it was defective."

Mr Pepperell also read a report from the Dubai health and safety executive inspector, Aria Alaaldin, on the boy's death, which occurred in November 2005.

He said the minimum weight for a person to use the parachute was 41kg and Tony weighed 42kg, around six-and-a-half stone.

The boat driver, Emmanuel Esbeneo, 31, and his assistant, Mark Maljar, 34, had provided an invoice showing the rope had been bought 19 days before the accident.

The inquest was read their police interviews in which they said they were caught unawares by the sudden squall. They said because the weather was so calm, they were using the larger of their two parachutes.

Mr Esbeneo said: "When it was the child's turn to parachute the wind changed suddenly and we told his parents we would pull him down.

"We started to pull him in with the winch but the wind speed and strength led to the boat to incline and the rope cut off.

"This led to the parachute being flown away by the wind and hitting the mosque by the beach, leading to the death of the child."

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.