Student dismembered by helicopter blade

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A British tourist has died in Greece, after being dismembered by the blades of a helicopter after getting too close to the aircraft while the engines were still running.

The 22-year-old man is thought to have been returning from a holiday on the Greek island of Mykokos via Athens. The man was exiting the Bell 407 helicopter at an airport in Spata, close to the Greek capital, on Monday at around 6:30 p.m.

British media identified him as Jack Fenton, a student at Oxford Brookes University.

He disembarked from the helicopter after it landed at the Superior Air helipad and is understood to have been led to safety away from the runaway by staff, The Sun reported.

The newspaper said that Fenton quickly walked back from the reception towards the helicopter, despite horrified onlookers shouting at him to stop. He was reportedly talking on a cellphone. He was then struck in the head by the high-speed rotor blade.

Fenton's parents were flying in a helicopter in behind him, and The Sun reported that the shocked pilot told the parents' pilot via radio to defer their landing to Athens Airport so they did not see their dead son.

Police are also investigating whether there was a possibility that Fenton ran back towards the helicopter to take a selfie, The Sun reported, citing a police source.

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