Tourist killed, two injured after whale slams sightseeing boat

A female tourist was killed and two others were hurt when a whale crashed into their sightseeing boat off the coast of Mexico.

The Canadian woman was reportedly tossed into the water when the surfacing whale hit the side of the boat, which was packed with 24 including tourists and crew.

Reports said she was pulled back into the boat and given mouth to mouth resuscitation by another passenger before being taken to hospital by naval paramedics, along with two other injured passengers.

The woman later died, but the others are not thought to have sustained life-threatening injuries.

The boat, operated by tour company Cabo Adventures, was returning from a short excursion from the resort city of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific coast side of the Baja California Peninsula, where there has been an unusually large migration of whales this season.

“The captain had to make a movement to avoid a whale that surfaced just in front of the boat,” The whale hit one side of the boat, leaving two people injured and another passenger hurt who, unfortunately, later died in hospital,” said a statement by the tour operator.