Woman snorkeler dies after throat slashed by windsurfer’s board

Authorities say a Russian woman died after a windsurfer’s board slashed her throat while she was snorkeling off Spain’s Canary Islands.

A local official in Gran Canaria said that the woman had been snorkeling about 25 meters (80 feet) offshore without an obligatory locating buoy.

Nieves Garcia, a town councillor for Santa Lucia de Tirajana, said the Swedish windsurfer’s board smashed into her when she lifted her head.

The woman, a 32-year-old local resident identified only as Emilia L, died while being treated by doctors on a nearby beach.

Garcia said the Swedish surfer, a tourist, was taken to a local hospital after experiencing an anxiety attack. His identity wasn’t released. She said police are treating the death as an accident.

The athlete, named only by his initials R.D, was apparently in the Canary Islands to try out new equipment in the lead-up to a pro-windsurfing event which begins tomorrow in Fuerteventura.

The victim, 31, who had been living in Spain “for a number of years”, was scuba diving for shellfish in an area known as Cueva Laya in Forma bay, when the accident occurred.

Initial investigations suggesting the diver had accidentally strayed into the area set aside for windsurfers.