THE language barrier between two Greek tourists and their Australian kayaking guides may have led to a tragic drowning in a treacherous stretch of the Russell River, a coronial inquest has heard.
A police officer who investigated the 2008 death of Georgina Hatzidimitriadis, 50, has alleged the guides did not adequately gauge whether the woman and her nephew understood instructions before allowing them on the water.
The Cairns Coroner’s Court also heard paramedics were sent “nowhere near where the incident occurred” after receiving the emergency call from tour company Foaming Fury on July 30, 2008.
The inquest into Mrs Hatzidimitriadis’ drowning began yesterday and is the second of four to be held examining the deaths of five people on commercial white water rafting tours in the region between July, 2007 and February, 2009.
The court heard Mrs Hatzidimitriadis and her nephew Dimitrios Eremeidis pushed away from the shore out of turn, ignoring or not understanding instructions to wait for a whistle to sound.
Former Babinda police officer Sen-Sgt Kevin Mathieson said witnesses reported Mr Eremeidis became confused after the pair’s two-person kayak drifted off course and he began paddling the wrong way.
The court was told trip leader Dean Priest yelled instructions to Mr Eremeidis, but he continued to paddle backward while Mrs Hatzidimitriadis paddled forward, inhibiting the kayak’s ability to move away from the current.
After the kayak capsized, the force of the water trapped Mrs Hatzidimitriadis underneath the surface on the front of a large rock.
She was found seven to eight minutes later and pulled from the water.
Sen-Sgt Mathieson said paramedics were sent to the wrong section of the river after a “mix-up” with Foaming Fury, but he did not think it contributed to Mrs Hatzidimitriadis’ death.
He said he was more concerned there was no procedure to check tourists’ understanding of instructions given during demonstrations.
Sen-Sgt Mathieson said he did not think the dangers of the Russell River, in particular the section dubbed Three Ways where the tourists were kayaking, were properly explained and the rapids were no place for the inexperienced.
Foaming Fury general manager Alan Carrette told the court the company now had a more rigorous way of assessing tourists’ command of the English language.
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