ROME (Reuters) - A gondolier involved in a crash in Venice's Grand Canal that left a German dead and his three-year-old daughter seriously injured has tested positive for drugs, the police said on Friday.

The man was under the influence of cocaine and hashish, according to tests taken after the collision between his gondola and a ferry, the Venice police said, confirming a report by the Ansa news agency.

The man had been giving the German family of five a tour of the historic city's canals when the accident happened. The German man appears to have been crushed between the two boats near the famous Rialto bridge.

A probe into the incident had been focused on the captain of the ferry and on those of two other ferries manoeuvring nearby, but now the gondolier is also under investigation, a police spokesman said.

The gondolier and his lawyer were not immediately available for comment.