Two British teenagers killed and another injured parasailing in Greece

Two British teenagers have been killed and a third seriously injured after a rope holding their parasailing parachute snapped.

The trio, believed to be from the same family, were found on rocks near Lindos on the island of Rhodes.

High winds caused the group to drift towards the rocks after their parachute broke, Greek media reported.

“A 13-year-old girl and a young man of 15 were found dead on the rocks near the city of Lindos in Rhodes,” the Greek coastguard’s press office said.

The coastguard and fire service found a third British teenager, also aged 15, on rocks nearby, who is now in a critical condition in hospital.

The teenagers arrived in Rhodes for a holiday a few days ago and were parasailing, a watersport where one or more people are towed behind a boat while attached to a canopy resembling a parachute that lifts them into the air.

Greek news site Ektaktanea reported that current regulations for parasailing in the country state that it is prohibited for three or more people to be towed at the same time.

The pilot of the speedboat and the owner of the parasailing company are being questioned by police, according to local media reports.

It is not the first time a British holidaymaker has been killed in a parasailing incident. In 2011, two men in Turkey were jailed after a father fell to his death when his harness snapped while parasailing. An 18-year-old Russian tourist died in Turkey last year when his parasailing cable broke 200ft above the sea and he landed in a palm tree.

An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of two British people following their death in Rhodes, and are in contact with the Greek authorities.”