At the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu in southern Peru, a German tourist fell off a cliff and died Wednesday while posing for a photo.
The 51-year-old man, Oliver Park, had ventured off into a restricted area, and ignored the warnings signs to stay away from the ledge of the cliff. The man asked a fellow tourist to take his photo when the accident occurred, according to Fox News.
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The man lost his balance while posing for the photo and fell 130 feet to his death. A Peruvian tourist who witnessed the incident, Guillermo Mestas, stated, “He asked a man who was there to take aphoto of him. The man came over to take the photo and in the moment he was handing him the camera, he lost his balance and fell.”
According to a conflicting report from BBC, another account of the incident stated that the man was leaping into the air while posing for the photo and lost his footing.
Park’s body was recovered from the mountainside and was taken to the morgue in the city of Cusco by means of train.
While this may seem like an extremely rare unfortunate accident, death-by-selfie is not quite as uncommon as you may believe.
Also in Peru this week, a South Korean tourist fell 1,600 feet down to his death at the Gocta waterfall. The tourist was taking a selfie in the Amazon rainforest when the accident occurred.
More than one million visitors made the trip to Machu Picchu in the year 2014 as it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1983. “The site is located 8,000 feet above seal level, and the ruins lie on a high ridge offering astounding views of the Sacred Valley, through which the Urubamba River flows 2,000 feet below.”
Do you think Oliver Park was at fault when he fell to his death in Mach Picchu, or should there have been better safety measures in place to avoid such a catastrophe?
