A woman has died in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean after being knocked over by the blast from a jet taking off from a nearby runway.
The incident happened at the well-known Maho beach near the Princess Juliana International Airport.
According to the BBC, police said the 57-year-old New Zealand woman had been standing on the fence at the beach when she was knocked backwards.
She was seriously injured and taken to hospital for treatment, but later died. A number of reports indicated she hit her head in the fall.
Maho beach is a popular tourist spot and is famous for its proximity to the runway; the fence is 50m from the beginning of the tarmac.
Rolando Brison, Sint Maarten’s tourism director, told the New Zealand Herald he met with the family and “while they recognised that what they did was wrong, through the clearly visible danger signs, they regret that risk they took turned out in the worst possible way,” according to the BBC.
Sint Maarten police said in a statement: “The landing and taking off of all types and size of aircrafts at the international airport of Sint Maarten is well known worldwide as major tourist attraction.
“Many tourists come to the island to experience the thrills of the landing of approaching aircrafts flying low above their heads and the holding on to the airport fence and standing in the jet blast of large aircraft taking off. Doing this is, however, extremely dangerous.”