A British woman, in her 60s, died after a fatal white water rafting accident on a river in a popular tourist hotspot in the French Alps – cops have since launched a manslaughter probe
A British woman has died after a fatal white water rafting accident in a popular French tourist hotspot as local cops launch a manslaughter probe.
The Brit, in her 60s, died on Saturday after the horror incident that happened shortly after midday, near the town of Briançon, in the French Alps. The victim fell from her raft during an outing that was supervised on the Guisane River and she was later “found on the riverbank”, according to local firefighters. She was discovered by emergency services and rushed to a local hospital, in South East France, near the border with Italy.
The Brit tragically later died in hospital, when she succumbed to her injuries from the horror incident. Prosecutors said an autopsy would later be conducted of the woman “born in 1956”.
A manslaughter probe has since been opened into her tragic dead and police investigate the circumstances around the incident, which will be led by Briançon CRS Alpes. This investigation will also look at the tour guides the Brit had been on the outing with at the time of accident.
A local public prosecutor said: “Investigations are continuing to determine the circumstances of the accident.” A Foreign Office spokesperson, speaking to The Sun, said: “We are in touch with local authorities following the death of a British woman in France.”
This British woman has unfortunately not been the only Brit abroad to tragically die while white water rafting. Schoolboy Matthew Hitchman died while rafting on a school trip to Ecuador when he was just 17 years old.
Matthew had been with classmates and teachers on a month-long school trek across the Andes when he fell from the inflatable boat, in 2017. Attempts to rescue Matthew “proved impossible” according to The Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
In a statement at the time, the school headmaster Philip Wayne said: “Matthew will be sadly missed by all who knew him. He was a caring, friendly and well-liked student who was highly regarded by his teachers and fellow pupils.”
Another British teenager nearly died when she was attacked by a crocodile while white water rafting in Zambia. Amelie Osborn-Smith was left fighting for life after her foot was nearly severed by the creature in the Zambezi river.
A friend helped pull the then 18-year-old out of the crocodile’s jaws before she was quickly airlifted to hospital with a serious leg injury.
Amelie said she wanted to “give back” to those who helped her get medical treatment and began fundraising to build a village school near the site of the attack. As a result, she won the Act Of Courage title in the Amplifon Awards For Brave Britons 2022.