A British teenager has died after reportedly falling off the mast of a yacht she had been working on in Jamaica.

Bethany Smith, 18, is thought to have died in hospital from multiple injuries after the accident on board luxury 60 metre-long schooner Germania Nova, which was berthed near Portland, Jamaica.

A GoFundMe page set up to help her family says she "fell off the mast" of the yacht on Tuesday.

According to local newspaper Jamaica Observer, she was cleaning the mast of the vessel "when the ropes became undone and she fell onto the deck".

The junior deckhand, originally from Glyn-Dyfrdwy, Denbighshire, in North Wales, left the UK a decade ago to sail around the world with her family on their yacht.


She joined the Germania Nova more than a year ago after "falling in love" with the boat in Trinidad, according to a crew profile.

Image: The yacht was berthed near Portland, Jamaica

The GoFundMe page describes her as "a generous person" and "a ray of sunshine who brought laughter and music into the lives of those she met".

The page, which has raised more than $11,000 (£8,950) for her family, says that the 18-year-old's mother Sarah is in Trinidad, her father Dave is in the Netherlands and her brother Bryn is in Antigua.

It states: "This family has suffered an unspeakable loss. This fund will help alleviate a portion of their financial stress, so they don't have to worry about the costs of being together to lay Bethany to rest."

Niall Robinson, partner at Hill Robinson Yacht Management which charters the Germania Nova, said: "The crew member's next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the family, friends and fellow crew members at this very difficult time.

"Hill Robinson and the owners are doing everything possible to support the family and friends and of course an immediate investigation is already underway."

After leaving the UK in 2007, Miss Smith and her family spent three years in the Mediterranean before spending a year in the Canary Islands.

Miss Smith wrote about her travels in a blog with the motto "Live life for today, you never know what tomorrow will bring".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in contact with the authorities in Jamaica following the death of a British national in Portland and are supporting their family at this very difficult time."