Brazilian woman arrested as 2 boys die in jet ski accident in Japan

GIFU. KAZINFORM - A Brazilian woman was arrested Monday after a 10-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy were killed the previous day when her jet ski collided with their inflatable boat on the Kiso River in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, police said.

Marjori Mayumi Fugimoto, 27, from Komaki in neighboring Aichi Prefecture, said she does not have a jet ski license, according to the police. Investigators quoted the suspect as saying that she has ridden a jet ski only a few times and that she "panicked" when the craft accelerated more than she expected.

Her jet ski allegedly plowed into the boat carrying her compatriot Fabio Akira Oishi, 35, from Kani in Gifu, and his three children, killing Hideki, 10, and Flavio, 3, on the river in Hashima, Gifu, Sunday afternoon. The man and his 8-year-old daughter sustained serious injuries in the incident.

Fugimoto was arrested on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death and injury and admitted to the charge.

Police are looking into whether she accelerated without heeding what was ahead and subsequently lost control of the jet ski, which was registered to someone else, they said.

Oishi, his wife and the three children were visiting the area and the suspect is believed to be an acquaintance of the family, the police said.
The accident occurred in an area popular with jet skiers around 4.5 kilometers southeast of Gifuhashima Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.

Source: Kyodo