Teenager dies after speedboat crash near Southampton as 12 taken to hospital
22 August 2020, 21:27
A 15-year-old girl has died after a speedboat collided with a buoy near Southampton.
Twelve people who had been travelling in the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) were taken to hospital following the accident in Southampton Water, near Netley, at 10.10am on Saturday.
A teenage girl was pronounced dead in hospital, Hampshire Constabulary said.
The force said it is now working with the Coastguard and Marine Accident Investigation Branch to establish what happened.
It said the victim's next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.
The coastguard said it received multiple 999 calls in the wake of the crash.
A spokeswoman said: "Three lifeboats, a coastguard rescue team and the ambulance service were all called to assist.
"There were some injuries and the 12 people who were on board were taken to shore and handed into the care of the ambulance service."
A spokesman for the South Central Ambulance Service said that no-one else involved in the crash suffered life threatening injuries.
A local mariner said conditions in the Solent had been very difficult on Saturday, with strong spring tides coupled with winds of 8 on the Beaufort Scale at times - up to 46mph.
He said that navigation markers in the Solent were usually very large, and could be the size of a small car.
"In a RIB at high speed if you hit something at high speed everyone gets thrown forward like on a fairground ride.
"People are usually holding on to the seat in front so you often see crushing injuries because it is decelerating so fast, so you see things like crushed ribs."
No one in a RIB would be strapped in, he said, because if the vessel were to flip over everyone would be trapped underwater.
Anyone with any information about the incident or may have captured footage of it is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 554.
