More here http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3076189/Cerys-crushed-between-rocks.html
It appears she was entrapped. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3075765/Brit-kid-killed-in-raft-tragedy.html Brit kid killed in raft tragedy
©EAST MED MEDIA
A NINE-YEAR-OLD British girl has been killed and another little boy seriously injured after a family white water rafting trip turned to tragedy in Turkey. Cerys and Markus Potter were thrown from their inflatable raft after it hit rocks on a river near the Turkish resort of Dalaman. The children were lost after the raft capsized but the family found Markus clinging to a rock badly injured. Unable to locate little Cerys the rafting rep called in the local cops who searched the river banks for over an hour before discovering her crushed body trapped between rocks. Rescue workers carried her body on a makeshift stretcher stumbling over rocks for 300 metres to the waiting hearse where she was taken first to the local morgue and then ferried 200 miles to Izmir for an autopsy. Markus, 12, is Cerys' cousin and being treated for his injuries in the Yucelen Hospital near Dalaman.
The family were part of a group of 12 Brits, including the children, who had paid £35 each for their day out on the river. The trip, however, is not sold by the major British tour operators like Thomson's, First Choice or Thomas Cook as it is considered too dangerous. And even in nearby Marmaris bucket shops selling tours to tourists will not allow anyone under 18 to go white water rafting. One of the bucket shop touts explained: "We don't sell rafting to children it's far too demanding and dangerous for them. You have to be a strong swimmer and in good physical condition to go rafting. I did hear, however, that some companies in Fethiye are still selling to family groups it was an accident waiting to happen. My heart goes out to the family."
The Potter family had decided on the rafting trip as part of their summer fun while holidaying in Fethiye. Unaware of the danger they were facing the family headed out and enjoyed breakfast in Gurleyik Village before setting out on the fast flowing Dalaman Cayi river. The rafting is set over a 14km stretch of the river and for the first 10km everything was fine. Then tragedy struck when the raft capsized after hitting the rock. Advertising for rafting on the Dalaman river boasts: "The course is 14km with 12 rapids. All you have to do is to help your guide by holding on tight." But they do stress: "Knowing how to swim is a must but there is no need for previous experience."
The Turkish media have quoted the boss of the rafting company anonymously and to add insult to injury he blamed the children for the accident. He was reported in a Turkish newspaper saying: "The children wouldn't sit still in the raft and that caused it to capsize." A spokesman for the Yucelen Hospital confirmed that they were treating Markus for his injuries. "Markus is improving steadily and we hope he will be released from hospital tomorrow," said the hospital spokesman.
© 2009 News Group Newspapers Ltd. "The Sun"
Relatives say Cerys was a good swimmer. They are certain that the children would have sat as still as they could under the circumstances, and obeyed every directive given by their guide. sitting still is not an option on the river, per se, as the white water would have been throwing them around.
