A teenager from a Scottish scout group has died in an accident on an adventure holiday in the Italian Alps.
Fourteen-year-old Elliot Peacock from Glasgow was part of a group jumping into water under instruction on a trip organised by outdoor education provider Acorn Adventure.
The 40 scouts were on a supervised “gorge scrambling” expedition, which involves walking up and down a gorge and jumping from a low level into pools, on the second day of a nine-day adventure activity holiday in the Aosta Valley.
The incident happened at a location popular for swimming in the summer at Lillaz Falls, about 1,800m above sea level, in the Gran Paradiso National Park on Sunday afternoon.
Acorn Adventure said: “On this particular occasion, the group were jumping from a height of approximately 60cm into the water, where instructors were waiting for them as is normal.
“Water conditions were optimum for the activity and the weather was warm and sunny.
“As this participant entered the water for the second time, it was obvious to the instructors that something was wrong, so they rescued him from the water immediately.
“There was no obvious contact with a rock or anything else, so the reason for losing consciousness remains unexplained.
“Instructors who are trained first aiders and nurses who were also at the scene began CPR and continued until the air ambulance arrived 10 minutes after being called.
“Very sadly, they were unable to resuscitate him.”
Acorn Adventure said it was working with the Italian emergency services and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Senior operations staff from the company, along with a trauma counsellor, have travelled to Italy to provide support.
Acorn Adventure added: “Staff have since returned to the site with the police investigating the incident and it is now understood that there was no impact with a rock.
“Gorge scrambling has been operated by Acorn at this particular location for hundreds of participants every year for the past five years.
“It is controlled by fully trained and assessed instructors and all participants are equipped with helmets, buoyancy aids, full wetsuits and footwear.”
Acorn Adventure founder and managing director Andrew Gardiner said: “We are all profoundly saddened by this tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the boy.
“Our priority is to ensure we do all we can to help them by working with the various organisations involved to understand how this happened.
“The rest of the group are supporting each other and showing great maturity. They are a great credit to their scout group and their parents.”