A promising young professional surfer has died at the age of 16 while catching a wave in Barbados during Hurricane Irma, the World Surf League said.

Zander Venezia, a native of Barbados, reportedly fell off his board and hit a shallow reef at a beach called Box by Box, it said. He and other surfers were riding a swell generated by the Category Five hurricane.

Speaking to the magazine Surfline, fellow surfer named Alan Burke said: "Zander was bleeding, and he wasn’t moving. They tried to get him to the beach quickly, which was very difficult.

"Box by Box is a tough place to get in and out of, even if you have the ability."