The incident, which occurred on Sunday 13 June, killed 21-year-old Neophytos Demosthenous in the Paphos district, reported the Cyprus Mail. The diver had been harpoon-fishing with his brother Marios, 20, in the Fontana Amorosa area in the Akamas.
According to police, the divers had taken all necessary precautions, including the deployment of red surface buoys. But at around 2.50pm, Demosthenous was hit by the fast-moving boat, which did not stop.
He was retrieved from the seabed at a depth of 12m by divers from a nearby boat, and rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The British national owns the speedboat which was later identified by Mario Demosthenous as that involved in the incident. The owner was named as Christopher Sherofflasky, 55, who has lived in Cyprus with his wife and three children for the past eight years.
Sherofflasky was arrested on Sunday night and was reportedly being held for three days while he is questioned by police. He faces a possible charge of causing death by negligence, but was reported to have denied being involved in the incident.
It was not reported whether the incident occurred inside or outside one of the marked corridors established around Paphos for the passage of boats in areas used by swimmers and divers; or whether there was any speed limit which the boat, even if running along a designated corridor, could have been exceeding.
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