A Kazakhstan woman celebrating the end of the coronavirus lockdown fell more than 100 feet to her death on Sunday while posing for a celebratory photo in Turkey’s Duden Park. According to News1, and as first reported by Sputnick Turkey, 31-year-old Olesia Suspitsina had traveled with a friend to the park located in Anatyla to get some fresh air on the same day the citywide shelter-in-place order was lifted.
“We came to the park in the evening, we drank wine,” the unnamed friend who accompanied Suspitsina said. “Then we were talking to a friend with a video. When Olesia was talking on video, she asked me to take a picture of herself.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
According to reports, Suspitsina climbed a safety barriers so that her friend could take a picture of her standing on the cliff’s edge with waterfalls in the background. At one point, however, the 31-year-old slipped on wet grass, lost her balance and fell 155 feet to her death. Her friend immediately called emergency services, and Suspitsina’s body was later pulled out of the water by local rescuers.
According to the Daily Mail, Suspitsina had worked as a tour guide for five years in the area and was described by a relative as “a smart and cheerful person” who “set goals and made them happen.” Her love of the outdoors was also made apparent across her social media platforms, including in a now-private Instagram post in which she wrote, “I will always admire the beauty of the Turkish nature,” calling it her “paradise.” News of her death has shocked many, who have taken to her posts and other social media platforms to react and pay their respects.
“Olesya always loved the sea and dreamed of living in Turkey. She made her dream come true. More than anything she loved the feeling of freedom,” Olga Kravchuk, a close friend, wrote. “This is an irreparable loss. My heart is broken.”
“She [Olesya] always said she was happy to live in this city. It was her place in the world,” one social media user added. “I cannot believe you’re gone. I see you alive and smiling in my memory. Terrible loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.”
Suspitsina’s body was transferred to the Antalya Forensic Medicine Institute’s morgue. Authorities have since ruled her death accidental. Her body is scheduled to be transported from Turkey to Kazakhstan on Saturday, where she will be buried in her native city of Kostanay.