Man dies in waterskiing event Southern 80 on Murray River at Moama

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A man has died after falling during a waterskiing race on the Murray River. The annual southern 80 race was called off while the circumstances that led to the accident are being investigated.

Transcript

00:00 It's not for the faint-hearted. Top skiers at the Southern 80 water skiing event reach

00:07 unimaginable speeds, exceeding 100km/h. But after a glowing start, today's race was

00:14 brought to a standstill, and eventually cancelled after a skier came down.

00:20 "This will affect the community for months to come when everyone goes home. It's an

00:23 absolute tragedy." Emergency services rushed to the scene, but

00:27 the man, aged in his early 40s from regional Victoria, couldn't be revived.

00:32 The accident happened about halfway along the 80km Murray River course, which starts

00:37 from Toorumbri Weir, navigating more than 100 corners before finishing at Echuca Moama.

00:44 Police are investigating the cause of the accident, but say conditions weren't a factor.

00:49 "The race had passed all criteria to commence. Water levels were no issue that I'm aware

00:55 of." It's not the first fatality in the race's

00:59 history. In 2017, David Morabito was the sixth person to die at the event in 30 years, sparking

01:06 the introduction of speed limits. "It's the nature of the beast really. Everyone

01:11 runs the risk that runs the race. So if you're prepared to do that, hopefully everything

01:18 goes well and nothing like this happens." Another two people were hospitalised for leg

01:24 and upper body injuries in separate incidents at the event. A report will be prepared for

01:28 the coroner.

01:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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