Parents of British schoolgirl killed on school trip sue school after two years without justice

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The parents of a British student killed on a school trip to the Maldives are still seeking justice for their daughter nearly two years on from her death.

Jenna Chan died on 8 November 2024 after being struck by the propeller of a boat during an excursion, organised by the Singapore-based St Joseph’s Institution International Ltd and a UK-registered charity.

The 15 year-old was knocked unconscious and sustained critical injuries before she was pulled up to the boat with help from her traumatised classmates, a lawsuit from the family says. She regained consciousness briefly, whispering “help me”, before being pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Her parents, Dr Jennifer Liauw and Alan Chan, told The Independent that they have spent more than 20 months pleading with the school to work with them to establish exactly what happened to their daughter and ensure it can never happen again.

Speaking from Singapore, Jenna’s parents remembered their daughter as “pure sunshine – warm, smiley, and always thinking of other people.”

“She was the person who held our family together and was especially close to her sister, Alisha, who was her soulmate,” they said. “She hoped to become a geriatrician because she loved older people and wanted to care for them. That was Jenna: kind, helpful, and full of love.”

Jenna's mother, Dr Jennifer Liauw, said they have spent more than a year and a half pleading with the school to work with them to establish what happened — Jenna’s mother, Dr Jennifer Liauw, said they have spent more than a year and a half pleading with the school to work with them to establish what happened (Family handout)

They said the most important objective for them was to “hold the school accountable by ensuring transparency” in risk management, emergency planning and post-incident decision making.

“We hope the process will lead to meaningful improvements in how overseas school expeditions are planned, supervised, and managed, with clear accountability when those standards are not met,” they said of their lawsuit.

“If this case results in stronger governance and better protection for future students, it will have achieved something far beyond our own family.”

In the lawsuit filed on Monday, Jenna’s parents allege that the school has “refused to be held accountable” for their daughter’s death and “instead remained belligerent”.

St Joseph’s, a fee-paying international school for more than 2,000 students aged 4-18 in Singapore, denies any wrongdoing.

“For us, accountability means transparency, recognition of the school’s responsibilities, and clear evidence that meaningful changes have been made,” the family said in a joint statement. “In our view, the school has failed to live up to these expectations.

“We did not want to be here,” said Dr Liauw. “For over a year and a half we asked the school to work with us to find out what happened so this can never happen to another child. Every door was closed. This claim is about accountability, and about making sure Jenna is the last.”

Tragedy struck during the school trip to the Maldives (file photo) (AFP/Getty)

They point to a letter from the school’s lawyers asserting bluntly that the school “does not owe Ms Jenna Chan a positive non-delegable duty of care to protect and safeguard her from the risk of harm”.

The family believe that the school, which charges fees of up to £26,900 per year, failed to do due diligence around the Maldives Expedition in 2024, which was compulsory for Grade 9 students and a requirement to progress to the next academic year.

Jenna died after entering the water during a whale shark excursion aboard the MV Sapphire Black in the South Ari Marine Protected Area in the Maldives, while on an expedition run by the UK-registered Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) charity.

After the teenager entered the water, the captain or a member of the crew started the engine of the boat, causing the propeller to strike her on the underside of the boat.

A “loud thud and a crackling sound could be heard”, the lawsuit states, but the boat continued “towards those in the water”.

A teacher from the school then dove under the boat to free Jenna, who was then brought back on board unconscious with her leg sliced open and an open wound on her back. Another student also sustained cuts to her ankle from the rotating propeller.

Jenna’s teachers attempted to resuscitate her in front of her school friends, who were said to be traumatised by the incident. A nearby diving boat provided them with emergency oxygen as the MV Sapphire Black did not have any on board.

Without a helicopter in the area available to help them, Jenna was finally taken to the Dhigurah Health Centre on Dhigurah Island at around 10:15am, some 45 minutes after they entered the water.

Her parents say the school failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that MWSRP was suitable and qualified to run excursions for school children, and failed to properly vet the Maldives, which they say has seen a pattern of fatal marine incidents on diving and boat tours.

As many as 112 tourists died in marine-related incidents in the Maldives between January 2020 and October 2023, according to police figures circulated last summer.

They also say that other parents found out about Jenna’s tragic passing before they did.

And while her parents were working out how to repatriate their daughter’s body, the school sent out an email to parents of children on the trip writing, “Another day when we got what we hoped for!” and listing the various activities that had taken place that day.

The email included photographs of the students, including Jenna, despite the school’s management having already learned of her death hours earlier.

A spokesperson for the school said: “The loss of Jenna was a tragedy, and our hearts remain with her family. As a school, we continue to offer them our unwavering support and hold them in our thoughts and prayers every day.

“We can confirm that Jenna’s parents had on Tuesday filed a claim against the school in the Singapore High Court.

“The school denies the allegations stated in the claim, which have misattributed fault to the school. As such, the school has retained legal counsel to defend the claim.”

A letter to the parents from the school’s solicitors dated 21 November 2025 said that “it was the boat captain’s act of putting the vessel into reverse after Jenna had entered the water that caused the incident,” according to the lawsuit.

They said as a result that the school “cannot be and is not liable for the boat captain’s act”, the statement of claim said.

The spokesperson for the school added: “The school also informed Jenna’s parents that it did not agree with any suggestion that the school was withholding information from them and that while the school had taken steps to obtain information from the Maldivian authorities who were investigating the incident, the school did not receive any such information.

“The school has reached out to Jenna’s parents on numerous occasions and remains open to meeting with them when they are ready. We are deeply mindful of their immense loss and strive to be respectful and sensitive in every way possible.

“As the matter is now before the Singapore Courts, the school will refrain from commenting further on the matter publicly at this juncture.”

Maldives Whale Shark Research, formerly the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, did not respond to a request for comment.

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