British sea scooter victim named

Police advise sea scooter riders to take training courses

A British doctor killed in a sea scooter accident while on holiday on Australia's Gold Coast has been named.

Dr Sridhar Shekar suffered fatal injuries when he was thrown from the vessel after it hit a moored boat near the resort of Labrador.

Queensland Police said Dr Shekar was 31 years old and from Leeds.

The Foreign Office said his 32-year-old wife, who was treated in hospital for minor injuries after the crash, has been offered consular assistance.

'Very difficult'

The couple had hired the vessel from Shane's Watersports World at Southport Broadwater.

Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Kelly, of Gold Coast Water Police said it was believed to be the first time the man had ridden a sea scooter, adding that they could be "very difficult" to drive.

Witnesses said the sea scooter hit the boat's anchor chain, throwing Dr Shekar onto a sandbank.

He is believed to have suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries to his head and upper body.

Crash probe

Trevor Gibson, co-owner of the hire company, said the boat was about 100 metres from where the sea scooter had left the beach, and he had no idea how it hit it.

"The company has been operating for 13 years, and nothing like this has ever happened. Nobody can make any sense of it," Mr Gibson said.

Police said the incident happened at about 1030 local time (0230 BST) on Monday.

Queensland's premier Anna Bligh said an investigation would be launched into the crash.

One eyewitness told local media she saw the man "going around, then the next thing heard sort of a thud, looked up and there was nobody on the jet ski, and then two guys were in the water pulling somebody out of the water and doing CPR just frantically".