A German tourist died on Friday (Nov 22) after suffering injuries from a speedboat propeller while swimming off a beach in Phuket, Thailand’s largest island and major tourist destination.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Sompong Julruang, deputy superintendent at the Kamala police station, said the victim was 63 years old.
The man had strayed from the declared swimming area on Kamala beach in the afternoon.
“The man was swimming outside the designated swimming area by 50 to 60 meters,” Sompong said, adding that the boat driver was on the way back to shore and did not see the man nearby.
The victim suffered deep cuts on his left arm and left knee. He was taken to Patong Hospital, where he died of his injuries, police said.
The German tourist arrived in Phuket a day earlier. The German embassy has been notified of the fatal incident, the officer said.
The boat driver was charged with negligent homicide, a sentence that may carry up to ten years in jail and a fine of 20,000 baht
