Parasailing 10-year-old dies as freak gust slams him into building

Ten-year-old Tony Loyden died instantly from serious head injuries after crashing on to the roof of a beachside mosque in Dubai at almost 30mph.

An inquest heard that the youngster, from Plymouth, was living in the Middle East with his parents Tony, 49, and Patsy, 48, and the family had decided to go parasailing with friends.

Within minutes of Tony going up the wind speed suddenly increased from 7mph to just under 30mph, causing the tow rope to snap and sending him flying uncontrollably towards shore.

The boat tried to follow and his father leapt into the sea and swam ashore when he saw his son crash into the roof of the Rashid Mosque on Jumeirah Beach in November.

Plymouth acting coroner Derek Pepperell, recording a verdict of accidental death, said: "The boy's father got to the beach and rushed to the mosque but there was nothing anyone could do.

"The family went out on this boat to go parasailing and Mrs Loyden went up successfully and her son then went up.

"He did not have a helmet but frankly I am not sure that would have made the slightest difference.

"All was going well for a while when the wind increased to four times its previous speed. There was no warning of this on the weather forecast and nothing to indicate it was going to happen.

"The assistant boat driver controlling the winch started to bring the parasail down and it was ten to 20 metres from the boat when the rope parted suddenly.

"Unfortunately Tony continued with the parachute and collided with a mosque, suffering injuries to his head from which he died almost instantly.

Boat driver Emmanuel Esbeneo, 31, and his assistant Mark Maljar, 34, were originally convicted of manslaughter by a Dubai court as they were not properly trained and had not checked the rope or the weather forecast.

But they were cleared by a higher court which ruled they could not have anticipated the change in wind speed and the death was caused by "a supernatural force".

A statement from Mr Esbeneo said: "When it was the child's turn the wind changed suddenly and we told his parents we would pull him down.

"We started to pull him in with the winch but the wind speed and strength led the boat to incline and the rope cut off.

"This led to the parachute being flown away by the wind and hitting the mosque by the beach, leading to the death of the child."

Mr Maljar said: "When the wind changed the resistance increased very rapidly and the rope cut and the child flew off."

Mr Pepperell told the hearing that there was no evidence of gross negligence as criminal proceedings had been overturned.

He said: "The boatmen failed to check the weather forecast but it would not have helped them because there was no suggestion of this sudden change.

"The rope was quite new and there is no suggestion it was defective.

"In order for me to find a verdict of unlawful killing there would need to have been gross negligence worthy of criminal condemnation."

Mr Loyden refused to comment after the inquest.