British boy killed skiing in US

An 11-year-old British schoolboy has been killed while skiing in the US state of Colorado.

Benjamin Trichler, from Uffington in Oxfordshire, died after crashing into a tree in Breckenridge, near Denver, during a family ski holiday.

A statement released by the coroner's office in Colorado said Benjamin's death was accidental and caused by a "closed head injury".

The coroner said he had been wearing a helmet but not one approved for skiing.

'Deepest sympathy'

An emergency ski patrol was called to the resort on Thursday morning and the boy was given life support and taken to Breckenridge Medical Centre, where he was later pronounced dead.

The resort said later in a statement: "Breckenridge Ski Resort, the Breckenridge Ski Patrol and the Vail Resorts family extend their deepest sympathy and support to all of his family and friends."

Resort spokeswoman Nicky DeFord told reporters that no one else was involved in the incident, which happened in clear weather.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Friday morning it had no details of the incident. Breckenridge, in the Colorado Rockies, was originally founded in 1859 as a gold mining town but is now regarded as a world class ski resort.