Horror speedboat crash kills Harry Potter publishing house president

The president of the Harry Potter publishing house has been killed in front of her husband and two children.

The family were on a speedboat when it smashed into a sailing ship killing 44-year-old Bloomsbury USA president Adrienne Vaughan, reports the New York Post.

Vaughan was launched into the water when the two vessels collided off the Amalfi coast near Naples, on Thursday, August 3.

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She landed between the hulls of the two vessels and was fatally struck by the speedboat’s propeller, according to local media reports.

Footage captured by a wedding party guest on the sailing ship which was hit by the speedboat shows guests dancing to the Backstreet Boys’ Everybody (Backstreet's Back) when the horror accident took place.

Passengers saw the New York-based publishing president in the water being supported by her husband and children, according to Pietro Iuzzolino, a bartender on the sailing ship Tortuga.

He told the Italian newspaper Corriere del Mezzogiorno: “She didn’t have an arm and the nape of her neck was white, as if no blood was flowing.

“It was terrible.”

Vaughan’s husband, Mike White, was also injured and transported to a hospital in Castiglione di Ravello, where he underwent surgery on his left shoulder.

According to reports their children Leanna, 14, and Mason, 11 weren’t injured but were treated for shock.

Vaughan and her family arrived in Italy earlier this week, sharing snaps from landmarks including the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum on social media.

After visiting Rome the family arrived in Positano on the Amalfi coast near Naples.

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The speedboat driver, identified as a 30-year-old man, was also hospitalised with injuries to his ribs and pelvis and allegedly failed toxicology tests after the crash, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Vaughan was rescued from the water and taken to shore where responders fought to save her life but she died before she could be taken to a hospital, local reports said.

She became president of Bloomsbury USA in September 2021 after serving as executive director and chief operating officer for a year.

Vaughan – a graduate of NYU Stern School of Business with an MBA in finance – previously worked as an executive for the Disney publishing group.

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