A HOLIDAYMAKER from Colne riding a jet ski died instantly in a high speed collision with a friend, an inquest was told.

Christopher Jones, 23, of Ruskin Avenue, Colne, collided with a jet ski being ridden by a friend Terence Wainman, of Halifax, in a freak accident in the Red Sea in Egypt.

The friends were just starting the second week of a fortnight's holiday and had spent the first seven days on a Nile cruise.

They arrived at the Sharm el Sheikh resort seven hours before a boat was due to take them diving and decided to hire jet skis.

They set off in different directions round the bay and approached each other at speeds of 30-40mph.

Mr Wainman told an inquest at Burnley yesterday:" We had made arrangements that if we approached each other we would both bear left.

"I saw Chris approach us. I slowed down a little. Chris was looking out to sea. I shouted at the top of my voice. I kept shouting, shouting and shouting. I turned left and he turned right straight into us.'' Mr Wainman and David Singer, also of Halifax, who was riding behind him tried to save 17-stone Christopher, a Jehovah's Witness, when the accident happened on July 31 last year.

After some time two small boats came out but according to both friends were more interested in the damage to the jet skis than about their friend.

East Lancashire Coroner David Smith said papers from the Egyptian authorities had only recently arrived and statements made by witnesses were unsatisfactory although Egyptian police had carried out a thorough investigation.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Smith said the situation was unsatisfactory but at least they had been able to hear first hand accounts from Mr Jones' two friends.

Christopher's parents, Kenneth and Marilyn, who own a corner shop in Ruskin Avenue, Colne, attended the hearing.

Mr Jones said the embalming had not been carried out properly, wrong advice had been given by staff at the Consulate in Cairo and the undertaker had written that death was the result of a car accident.

He said: "At the end of the day we look back and think we were lucky to get Chris's body back."

The former Park High School pupil worked at Lanlee Supplies in Colne and was a popular member of the Jehovah's Witness congregation.

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