Reports are that sometime around two this afternoon, an American national, sixty year old Dianna Lynn Meschling was snorkeling at Goff's Caye when she got caught in the boat's propeller - which cut her up - and then her head was slammed against the vessel.

She was very badly injured and rushed to Belize Medical Associates where she succumbed to her injuries. We spoke to a representative of Holland America's agent in Belize, Cruise Solutions, and he confirmed that she was on a snorkel tour when she was caught in the propeller.

According to a late police report, Meschling had a large cut wound to her right leg and two small cut wounds to the right side of the face. The report further states that she and her husband were aboard a 65 foot catamaran, captained by Martin Manuel Pariente. Police say that Meschling was in the water snorkeling with three other tourists when she went under the boat and received the mentioned injuries from the boat's propeller.

Meschling was in Belize on the Ryndam Cruise ship of the Holland America Line.

It is a highly irregular accident because usually boats are turned off while snorkelers are in the water - and at Goff's caye, the snorkelers usually go to the back of the island while the boats are parked at the front.

But some sort of grave error or deviation from standard procedure occurred, and it has cost the life of a tourist.