Local News

Young Sydney woman dies in Bali scooter tragedy

A fabulous holiday with her friends ended in the worst possible outcome for beautiful 26-year-old Australian Ella Knights.

A young Sydney woman has died after a horrific scooter crash in Bali.

Ella Makeesha Knights was found at 3am yesterday, two metres from a Honda scooter with the engine still running in North Kuta’s Canggu.

The 26-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a nearby medical clinic, Badung Precinct Traffic Police Chief Raka Wiratma said.

“The distance between the bike and the woman was around 2m,” he said. “According to several witnesses [she] was riding the bike alone and not wearing [a] helmet. We suspect the victim was out of control.”

Made Sujana, traffic accident unit chief with Badung police, said the scooter was heading west just before hitting a corner turning north.

“Because of the speed of the scooter she lost control and was dragged to the right and fell to the gutter,” Mr Made said.

Ms Knights, an advertising and marketing employee, had been on holidays across India and Indonesia for several weeks and was expected to come home on May 1st.

While the death has been reported to the Australian consulate, police are waiting for the autopsy to determine a definite cause of death.

Scooter and motorbike accidents are rife overseas. Like so many young Australians in the holiday paradise, she had not been wearing a helmet at the time. In a tragic twist, she had just sent a video to her mother a week before, captioned ‘Sorry Mum #nohelmet’.

“The most common reasons for illness or hospitalisation amongst young people who travel to Bali are injuries due to motorbike accidents and nightclub fights,” a DFAT spokesperson explained.

Ella had previously worked for The Australian Women’s Weekly advertising department, where she is very fondly recalled a friendly, efficient, organised, bubbly and happy young woman, and we send our sincere condolences to her family.

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