POLICE are probing the “mystery death” of a Brit sailor on Greece’s most glamorous island, dubbed the “island of the rich”.
The 44-year-old’s body was discovered in Spetses as coastguard officials said he was “found floating in the sea” in the island’s exclusive old port area.
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“There was a gash to the left side of his head, a wound that is puzzling us,” said one official.
“He seems to have been hit. We hope to have answers soon because right now it is a mystery as to how he died.”
The Brit’s body – found on Friday – was due to be transferred to a coroner’s office in the port city of Piraeus, outside the Greek capital.
Spetses, the playground for the rich and famous including members of the now deposed Greek royal family, is a two-hour hovercraft ride away from Athens.
Media reports suggested the dead Brit was a crew member participating in Spetses’ annual Classic Yacht Regatta which began yesterday.
The three-day event, the biggest of its kind in Greece, draws hundreds of sailing fanatics ever year and is seen as one of Europe’s most competitive regattas.
The tragedy brings the death toll of tourists in Greece to eight since the beginning of June – described as “unprecedented” by local police.
With the exception of the latest incident all the victims, including the British TV presenter, Michael Mosley, a celebrity doctor found dead on the remote island of Symi, lost their lives while hiking in blistering temperatures.
Greece has been sweltering in extreme heat for most of the month with the country forced to take emergency measures including closing the Acropolis, the Greek capital’s most visited site, during the hottest hours of the day.
This week the Greek health minister Adonis Georgiadis warned tourists “must be careful” and attributed the deaths to holidaymakers underestimating climate change “and the dangerous phenomena it has created.”
One local Spetsiot said the tragedy had left the island shocked. “This is the Monte Carlo of Greece and nothing like this ever happens here. We’re really shocked.”
Spetses is home to some of the richest people in Greece with the founder of EasyJet, Sir Selios Haji-Ioannou, among the well-heeled residents with villas there.