British schoolboy killed in fall

A British boy has died while on a school skiing trip in southern Austria.

Hayden Waller was a pupil at The Howard School in Gillingham, Kent.

The 12-year-old was trekking with classmates through a forested area near Mallnitz in the southern province of Carinthia on Monday, when he lost his footing and fell about 30 feet. He died instantly.

Local police spokesman Herbert Rud said: "There were four boys aged between 12 and 14 who tried to reach a hut from which you have a very good view of the area.

"Unfortunately they did not use the path, but went across the open area, and they found that the ground got steeper and steeper and stonier and stonier.

"They had not quite reached the hut when they decided to go back down, but two of them fell. One was killed and the other slightly injured," Mr Rud said.

One of the students ran down the hillside and told a passer-by what had happened.

Emergency services and a rescue helicopter attended, but found the boy dead.

Hayden's mother, Hayley Waller, said that she and her husband, Gary, were "absolutely devastated" by the death of their "adventurous little boy".

Paul Morris, his headmaster at The Howard School, said: "I would like to send my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Hayden Waller.

"Staff are comforting the other pupils on the trip and we are arranging for them to return home as soon as possible."

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