Bungee Horror: court hears details about failed jump

A 17-year-old Dutch girl has died after misunderstanding the instruction of her Bungee Coach. She fell to her death at 39 meters.

A 17-year-old Dutch girl has died after misunderstanding the instruction of her Bungee Coach. She fell to her death at 39 meters.

Published Jun 28, 2017

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A TEENAGER plummeted 130ft to her death after mis-understanding the ‘poor English’ of her bungee jump instructor, a Spanish court heard.

Dutch tourist Vera Mol was told ‘no jump’ by her instructor – but she thought he had given the order ‘now jump’.

The rope was attached to the 17-year-old’s feet, but it had not yet been secured to the bridge when she leapt.

She plunged to her death in the Cedeja River in northern Spain after hitting a dry river bed. A friend who had climbed down to take photos of the jumps was just two yards away when she hit the ground.

Miss Mol was camping with a group of friends who are said to have witnessed her death.

Joost van der Valk, the father of one of Miss Mol’s friends, told a Dutch newspaper that the instructors tried to stop the group from calling the police.

He said: ‘My son saw her fall to pieces and then immediately ran down. He thought he could save her. When Vera lay dead on the ground, two employees from above shouted very loudly “no policia”.’

‘I think there should be much stricter rules for this kind of dangerous sports. What happened to Vera should not have happened and must never happen again.’

The young group of keen surfers later held a memorial for Mis Mol on their surfboards.

The instructor, who has not been named, has appeared in a Spanish court on homicide charges.

Judges in the court of Cantabria, northern Spain, say the instructor should have checked for ID to make sure Miss Mol was 18 years old, adding that his English was ‘very bad’. The bridge is not supposed to be used for bungee jumping under Spanish regulations.

Flowtrack, whichs run the extreme sports company, said her death was ‘an accident’ caused by a misunderstanding of the instructions.

The teenager’s death in 2015 came just one month after British tourist Kleyo de Abreu, 23, was killed instantly during a bungee jump near Granada.

Miss De Abreu, from London, smashed into a bridge while on holiday with family in Spain. A police report found she had not had the safety rules properly explained to her and jumped before the instructor tightened the ropes.

An investigation found that adventure company ActivitSport left only one instructor in charge of a group of 14, who were invited to drink beer while waiting for their turn.

Owner Ramon Flores Sanchez and an employee are facing manslaughter charges.

Source: Daily Mail

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