A kissing couple plunged to their deaths in Cusco, Peru in the early morning hours of Saturday when they got intimate by the railing on Bethlehem Bridge. Video shows the couple falling backwards over the railing and onto the road below. Paramedics arrived at the scene, but were not able to save either of them.
Maybeth Espinoz, 34, and Hector Vidal, 36, kissed while they leaned on the railing at around 1 a.m. Saturday. At one point, Espinoz got on top of the railing and began falling backwards. She lost her balance, and wrapped her legs around Vidal. He tried to pull her back, but he lost his grip and fell over the railing, 50 feet below onto the street.
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According to the Mirror, local reports said the couple survived the fall. Unfortunately, Espinoz died on the way to the hospital. Vidal made it to the Hospital de Contingencia, but died in the intensive care unit after suffering a fractured skull.
News outlet Panamerica reported the couple were mountaineers who moved to Cusco, a city popular with tourists, to work as tour guides. Their bodies were taken to Ancash, Peru.
Vidal’s brother, Edwin Vergara, told authorities the couple did drink at a nearby nightclub before the incident.
The Association of Mountain Guides of Peru paid tribute to Vidal on Facebook, revealing that he had children, reports LadBible. The group called Vidal a “good human being” with a “beautiful family which God blessed with beautiful children.”
“We, your family of mountain guides will miss the great support to the institution. And even more those who will follow our steps, since you were an excellent instructor,” the statement read, adding that Vidal will be “very much missed.”
While this couple kissing viral video ended in tragedy, another kissing couple went viral for a very different reason. In July, a photo of Canadian couple Darren and Carolyn Carter kissing in front of a lion they killed in South Africa was criticized by animal conservationists and others shocked by the photo. The couple run a taxidermy business and consider themselves “passionate conservationists,” but refused to comment on the response to the photo.
“Hard work in the hot Kalahari sun… well done. A monster lion,” read the caption for the photo, published by Legela Safari. “There is nothing like hunting the king of the jungle in the sands of the Kalahari. Well done to the happy huntress and the team.”
“Kiss of death from disgraceful couple who have money but don’t know how to use it,” one critic wrote in response. “This is expected from rich with no heart and no sense! Tell them to go and learn from Bill Gates and his wife how to spend money on preserving life and destroying it!!”
Photo credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images
