Coroner calls for tighter rules on adventure operators after teenager dies
A coroner has called for tighter safety controls on adventure holidays after the death of a 17-year-old in Fiji.
Stockport coroner John Pollard urged the Government to scrutinise the safety measures put in place by companies organising adventure trips after Luke Molnar was electrocuted after touching a washing line on a Fijian island.
Finding an unlawful killing, coroner Pollard said the trip organiser, Coral Cay Conservation, had inadequate safety arrangements in place and also failed to provide adequate levels of medical support.
Travel law firm, Irwin Mitchell, is currently representing a seriously injured client with her fight for justice against the same company criticised at the inquest.
It has backed the coroner’s calls after acting for a number of victims seriously injured and the families of those killed on adventure holidays in countries including Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, France and the USA.
Head of travel law Clive Garner said: “The lack of regulation in this area is a major cause for concern. Sadly, every year we are asked to act for further victims injured on overseas adventures.
“Many of our clients go onto win claims against the organisers of their adventure holidays, but much more importantly they should not have been put in the position where they suffered injury in the first place.
"Better regulation is urgently required to protect those who go on adventure breaks and holidays and we welcome the Coroner’s recommendation that new legislation is introduced as soon as possible.
“This is not about requiring impossible safeguards or changing things to take away the important adventure aspects of these holidays. It is about organisations being required to take basic, common sense safety precautions to ensure that the children and adults who go on adventure trips do not suffer needless and serious injury.
“Like other cases we have been involved in, Luke’s death should have been avoided and it is high time that lessons are learned to prevent future tragedies and improved regulations introduced."
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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