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Sir Richard Branson has been left devastated after a talented chef was reportedly killed in a crash on his exclusive Caribbean hideaway.
Executive sous chef Sihle Somdaka, 37, was found fatally injured after apparently losing control of an electric buggy on Necker Island, the Virgin tycoon’s £95,000-a-night private paradise.
The father-of-two – hailed as a rising star of the culinary world – had just attended a raucous farewell party at the island’s opulent Great House, which was once the home of Branson and his wife Joan.
Police in the British Virgin Islands have now launched a full investigation into the tragedy, which has rocked Branson’s close-knit island community.
A source told The Sun: ‘Sir Richard wasn’t on the island when the incident occurred but has been in close contact with the family and the Necker Island team.’
They added that the billionaire was ‘deeply saddened’ by the incident, which is said to have occurred late Friday night.
The crash unfolded shortly before midnight, when Somdaka left the party and began driving down a steep hillside in one of the resort’s electric buggies.
Island medics and a doctor rushed from nearby Moskito Island to carry out frantic CPR before Somdaka was transported by boat to Peebles Hospital on Tortola.
Sihle Somdaka – a chef on Richard Branson’s Necker Island who is said to have died after losing control of an electric buggy on Friday night
A source told The Sun: ‘Sir Richard wasn’t on the island when the incident occurred but has been in close contact with the family and the Necker Island team’
The father-of-two – hailed as a rising star of the culinary world – had just attended a raucous farewell party at the island’s opulent Great House, which was once the home of Branson and his wife Joan
The crash unfolded shortly before midnight, when Somdaka is said to have left the party and began driving down a steep hillside in one of the resort’s electric buggies
Tragically, he was later pronounced dead after sustaining a head injury.
The source confirmed to the newspaper that staff on the island are now working with several local authorities to determine exactly what happened that night, adding that a full investigation is now being carried out into the circumstances.
But one insider blamed a ‘culture of excess’ on the billionaire’s island for the shocking loss of life.
‘They’ve had very many close shaves and near misses over the years… It was only a matter of time, but it should never have happened,’ they said.
Somdaka, originally from Cape Town, had dazzled diners across the globe – from high-end restaurants in Doha to Kuwait – before landing the coveted role in Branson’s Caribbean retreat.
Just days before the tragedy, he had posted sun-drenched photos of himself enjoying the island’s jet skis and pristine beaches with the caption: ‘Caribbean life.’