ROME (AP) — An American woman was killed off the Amalfi Coast after the motorboat she and her family were traveling on crashed into a tourist sailboat, Italian state TV said Friday.
The crash occurred Thursday off the popular stretch of coastline near Naples in southern Italy.
According to Italian media reports, the motorboat, rented through a skipper, slammed into the sailboat, which was carrying dozens of U.S. and German tourists, including some celebrating a wedding.
The impact of the crash knocked the woman into the water, where she was struck repeatedly by the motorboat’s propeller, the reports said.
Italian state TV said the woman was pulled out of the water and brought to a dock, but she had died by the time a helicopter ambulance arrived.
The Italian Coast Guard office in Amalfi was investigating the crash. A call to its office wasn’t answered, nor was there a response to an emailed request for details, including confirmation of the victim’s name and age.
The dead woman was identified in news reports as the head of a U.S. publishing company based in New York. Company officials said they couldn’t comment until first reaching her family.
The victim’s husband was hospitalized with a shoulder injury while the couple’s two young children were uninjured, according to the reports.
No one aboard the sailboat, including more than 80 U.S. and German tourists and crew, were injured.
A blood test for the skipper of the motorboat tested positive, reported Italian news agency ANSA, without indicating whether the result indicated alcohol or drug consumption. The skipper, who is Italian and about 30 years old, suffered a broken pelvis and ribs, ANSA said.
There was no answer at the courthouse in the southern of port city of Salerno, where prosecutors were overseeing the investigation.
The family was on holiday in Italy, media reports said. When their motorboat crashed, it had been headed to Positano, one of the most popular destinations along the Amalfi coast, Italian media said.
