Danish and Italian skippers probed as yacht crash kills two

GROSETTO - A blame game has broken out after a manslaughter invesigation was opened following a crash between a speedboat and a sailing yacht in the Argentario lagoon, local authorities have confirmed.
The incident occurred between a Danish and Italian crew and investigations are underway against both captains to establish who was at fault.
Two people were killed and four were injured in the high speed crash on Saturday off the Tuscan coast while the Italian coastguard are still searching for the body of a missing woman.
59-year-old Andrea Coen and 60-year-old Anna Claudia Cartoni have been confirmed as the two victim while four others onboard the ‘'Vahinè’ yacht were taken by helicopter to local hospitals in Maremma.
The body of Cartoni remains missing and a search operation is currently underway, which continued throughout the night with ships and helicopters being brought in for the operation as well as an underwater robot. However, efforts are being complicated due to the strong sea currents in the area.
The alarm was raised at 17:25 when the coastguard received a distress call after a collision between a speedboat and a sailing yacht. Onboard the speedboat were four Danes returning from a daytrip to Giannutri, named by the Italian news agency ANSA as 58-year-old Per Horup as well as three fellow companions, Mikkel Horup, Tine Lehmann and Anna Maria Sorensen Durr.
Horup has denied that the Danes were responsible for the incident saying that “it wasn’t our fault.” In an interview given to TV channel Tv2.
On board the yacht was 61-year-old Fernando Manzo who was at the helm when the collision took place, together with a group of 5 others who were reportedly from Rome.
According to reports the speedboat was travelling at a very quick speed. Aware of this, Manzo tried a desperate manoeuvre to avoid a collision. The speedboat however couldn’t avoid a crash, leading to the tragedy.
jp-jd
© COPYRIGHT ITALIAN INSIDER
UNAUTHORISED REPRODUCTION FORBIDDEN