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| Raft death Cerys Potter, 9, was unlawfully killed, inquest rules | Raft death Cerys Potter, 9, was unlawfully killed, inquest rules |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A nine-year-old girl who drowned after being flung from into a river while white-water rafting on holiday was unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled. | A nine-year-old girl who drowned after being flung from into a river while white-water rafting on holiday was unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled. |
| Cerys Potter, from Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, died in 2010 in rapids on the Dalaman river in Turkey. | Cerys Potter, from Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, died in 2010 in rapids on the Dalaman river in Turkey. |
| Coroner Christopher Woolley said gross negligence manslaughter had contributed to her death. | Coroner Christopher Woolley said gross negligence manslaughter had contributed to her death. |
| Four men have been jailed for more than five years over the fatal incident. | Four men have been jailed for more than five years over the fatal incident. |
| Cerys was sitting at the back of the inflatable raft with 13 people on board, Cardiff Coroner's Court heard. | |
| The raft struck a rock and then overturned, the inquest was told, throwing everyone on board into the rough and fast-flowing water. | The raft struck a rock and then overturned, the inquest was told, throwing everyone on board into the rough and fast-flowing water. |
| Fighting for justice | |
| The party was reassured Cerys was safe, but she could not be seen. | The party was reassured Cerys was safe, but she could not be seen. |
| The inquest heard a search was not launched by the organisers for more than 40 minutes and Cerys's body was found two hours later. | The inquest heard a search was not launched by the organisers for more than 40 minutes and Cerys's body was found two hours later. |
| A passenger on the raft had said he believed the boat was overcrowded, that it had too many children on board, and there were inadequate safety procedures. | |
| The inquest heard those onboard had only received a few minutes of safety briefings and were reassured by organisers the trip was safe for someone as young as Cerys. | |
| Rafting safety expert Paul O'Sullivan told the inquest the Turkish company, which organised the rafting excursion did not seem fit for purpose. | |
| 'Shambolic' | |
| He said children as young as nine should not have been allowed on the trip. | |
| Outside the hearing, Cerys's father Terry Potter said the family now had time to grieve after spending the past three years fighting for justice. | |
| He welcomed the inquest conclusion. | |
| "It was an accident waiting to happen, in fact it wasn't an accident at all," he said. | |
| "I discovered that eight previous incidents had happened on the river in very similar circumstances and eight people had been killed. | |
| "I then discovered just how shambolic the whole organisation of the river rafting was - the scant regard to safety. | |
| "They just wanted to sell trips to children when it was too dangerous for them to be on that river." | |
| Mr Potter added: "Keep your kids off that river because they might not come back." |