Kite surfer killed as wind sweeps him away

A 29-year-old man was killed in an unfortunate kite surfing accident in a bay near Torri l-Abjad in Armier yesterday.

Police said the man, a Bulgarian who lives in Malta, was preparing to practise his sport at about 3 p.m. when a gust of wind caught his kite and slammed him into a nearby tree.

He barely had time to recover from that impact when he was picked up again by the strong wind and was slammed onto the metal roof of a nearby room.

An ambulance rushed to the site but sources said he had lost a lot of blood in the accident. He underwent surgery immediately but died during the operation.

Kite surfing started being practised in Malta about four years ago.

Practitioners, standing on a surfboard, are harnessed to a three by fivemetre kite which, like a sail, propels them over the water.

The man was yesterday initially described as a paraglider but paragliding instructor Henry Rota told The Times that this sport is not practised at that spot but from higher ground.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano is heading an inquiry.