MADRID — Authorities say a Russian woman died after a windsurfer’s board slashed her throat while she was snorkeling off Spain’s Canary Islands.
A local official in Gran Canaria said Wednesday that the woman had been snorkeling Monday about 80 feet offshore without an obligatory locating buoy.
Nieves Garcia, a town councilor for Santa Lucia de Tirajana, said the Swedish windsurfer’s board smashed into the woman when she lifted her head.
The woman, a 32-year-old local resident identified only as Emilia L., died while being treated by doctors on a nearby beach.
Garcia said the Swedish surfer, a tourist, was taken to a local hospital after experiencing an anxiety attack. His identity wasn’t released. She said police are treating the death as an accident.