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When on holiday, many tourists opt for seeing the local sights with a tour guide as they seem like the easiest and safest way to explore the local surroundings. A tour guide accident is generally the last thing that will spring to mind when booking a holiday excursion, but unfortunately many tour operators abroad are unregulated which means the safety of some tours on offer is questionable.
In 2010, a Scottish woman was lost in a blizzard with her son on Langiokull glacier, Iceland for several hours after having become separated from their tour group. The mother and son were on an organised ski-doo tour when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse and the pair lost sight of their travelling companions.
The ski-doo the pair was travelling on had been temperamental throughout their tour and when they tried to catch up, the engine died and they were unable to re-start it. Thinking that the tour group would quickly notice their absence, the mother and son reassured themselves that they would soon be reunited with the group. However after several hours left out in the cold, the pair realised that they had been left behind.
Using their initiative, the Scottish pair made a makeshift shelter from the overturned ski-doo and from snow that they packed around it. Emergency services finally found the pair after a rescue helicopter had originally missed their whereabouts. Although the mother suffered frostbite in her hand, the pair where in good health despite their ordeal.
However, the scenario could have been far worse had the pair not used their good sense to build a shelter. The tour group failed to provide any of the holiday makers with suitable clothing for the excursion and the ski-doos were not of good working order. Regular checks should also have been made by the tour guides to ensure that none of the group had been lost. Careful checking of the weather forecast should also have been made and should have resulted in the trip being cancelled.
Speaking of his wife and son's ordeal, the Scottish woman's husband criticised the travel agency for not having warned the tourists about the upcoming snowstorm. It was not until he alerted the tour agency of his wife and son's absence that the tour guides mounted a search and rescue operation.
Tour companies have a duty to ensure the welfare of their groups. Although the adverse weather conditions were out of the ski-doo company's control, better weather checks should have been made and the tour should have been cancelled. Had the pair's ski-doo not been faulty, the couple would have been able to rejoin the group and avoided getting stranded in the snow. Maintenance checks should have been made on all of the ski-doos before the tour started which also may have helped prevent the tour accident.
Make a guided tour compensation claim today
At YouClaim, our team of personal injury lawyers can help you gain the compensation you deserve. If you have been affected by a guided tour accident, you may be eligible to make a compensation claim for any personal injury that you may have suffered.
Thanks to our no win, no fee policy, making a claim with YouClaim is easy and will not cost you a single penny regardless of the outcome of your claim.
So why not give us a call to find out more about making a guided tour accident claim today?
