An 11-year-old girl, originally from South Africa, died in England on Saturday when she was flung from an inflatable boat at a high speed and struck the motorboat.
Mari-Simon Cronje was at a friend’s birthday party at the Princes Club in the west of London when the accident happened.
The British Daily Mail reported that she fell from the “banana boat” (an inflatable boat which is towed behind a motorboat) while it was moving at a high speed (in a sharp turn), and then hit the motorboat’s propeller.
Mari-Simon sustained serious injuries and was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Middlesex where she later died.
She lived in Putney with her parents, Andries and Ancia Cronje, and brother André-Pierre.
The Cronjes said in a statement released to the British police: “Our beautiful daughter has died in a tragic watersport accident. We’re still struggling to process the awful news.”
A close family member apparently told the London Evening Standard at the family’s house that the Cronjes are “shattered”.
“They just want to be left alone. It was the birthday party of a school friend and they were not even there when it happened. They’re leaving it in the hands of the police to investigate.”
The driver of the motorboat, a 22-year-old watersport instructor, was arrested but released on bail.
[Daniëlla du Plooy, Beeld]
