Death of Singapore child due to being hit by reversing boat

A Singaporean 15 year old girl from St Joseph's Institution died through being hit by a boat's propeller while snorkeling.

An eye witness to the incident has now come forward, stating that the death occurred due to the boat reversing after the students had dived into the sea. The boat reversing caused the child to be caught in its propeller, sustaining fatal injuries.

The students were in Maldives on a whale shark research project and had been snorkeling at a popular shark point near Alif Dhaalu atoll Dhigurah.

Police have earlier said that the death occurred when the child hit the propeller while diving off the boat for snorkelling.

The incident was reported to police at 09:55 hrs on the morning of November 8. She was immediately taken to the Dhigurah Health Centre, but was declared dead on arrival.

The eye witness told Mihaaru News that the accident had not occurred at the moment when the child had dived into the sea.

"The children were observing some dolphins that were diving in and out of the water. One of the dolphins moved away from the others, and the children were keenly watching this. The boat was moved near the dolphins and the children went into the sea when the three guides on the boat authorized it," they said.

They said that the children's joy at getting the chance to swim with dolphins was evident. They said that six children had first gotten ready to get in the water.

"All the children were sitting in a line on the boat at the time. The engine was shut off," the eye witness said.

They said that the incident had occurred before all the school staff and students had even gone into the water.

"A few of them had gone into the water, when they suddenly turned on the engine," they said.

It is unclear why the engine had started before all had gone into the water, nor the reason why.

This is amongst the many concerns raised by the Singaporean team who came to Maldives to look into the incident, where they believe the crew acted in manners that could jeopardize the children's safety.

The eye witness said that upon the boat reversing, a Singaporean had yelled 'Stop! Stop!' to no avail.

"The boat was reversing into the crowd of children in the sea at the time. The person shouting then called out the name of the child who died. They started asking where she is and searching, and when they reached the boat, they looked under and said she was caught in the propellers," they said.

Despite there being Maldivian guides aboard, it was a Singaporean official accompanying the students who first dived in to help save the child, they said.

When asked about the case and the investigation so far, a Police media official responded that 'there are no updates at this time', saying the investigation is continuing.

As reported in Singapore's Strait Times, the team that came on the trip were nine students who had won the National Youth Achievement Award. Following the death, officials from the school and the parents of the victim flew to Maldives to look into the incident.