Death at the Disney Castle in Germany and 5 other tourist-spot tragedies that shook the world
The recent incident where a 21-year-old US tourist was murdered at the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, adds to the list of other such gruesome tragedies that have happened at a tourist spot.
What
Eva Liu from the US was on a trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle at Schwangau, Germany, along with her friend, 22-year-old Kelsey Chang, who was also a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Both of them were sexually assaulted by a 30 year-old man and ultimately pushed down a ravine near Marienbrucke, a bridge near the castle, by the man.
21-year-old Liu plunged to her death due to the fall, but her friend Chang survived because of a tree breaking her fall down the ravine.
This Disney Castle incident comes only a few days after the Skywalk incident at Grand Canyon, Arizona, US, and also adds to a long list of unfortunate accidents at popular tourist spots.
Here's a look at 5 such accidents at renowned tourist sposts across the world:
1. Death on a Skywalk
According to recent report by CNN, a man lost his life after falling 4,000 ft from a renowned walkway at Arizona, US.
What
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office recently shared the news about a 33-year-old man dying after falling over the edge of the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, via a post on their official Facebook account.
The Skywalk, which is a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge, extends to an approximate length of 70 feet out over the Grand Canyon’s rim. The bridge is managed by Hualapai Tribe, which is a federally recognised Indian tribe located in North-western Arizona.
When
On June 5, after receiving the report about the man, a regional-based rope and rescue team sent out a Kingman (Department of Public Safety) Ranger helicopter to the site. It was upon the chopper's arrival that the man was declared dead.
The body was located and then transferred to the Hualapai Nation.
According to the reports of the National Park Service, the Grand Canyon records around 12 deaths each year due to accidents, with the majority of the victims being tourists.
2. Hiker's death at Grand Canyon
What
On May 14, a woman from Indiana, US, was reported dead along the trek route of the Colorado River by the the National Park Service officials.
According to the offcials, the woman was trying to trek through a difficult route of Bright Angel Trail above the Three-Mile Resthouse.
The woman went beyond the zone of contact initially. It took a while for the nearby resucuers to find her body and when they did, near a steep along the trek route, it was already too late.
3. Death while snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef
What
A man was reported dead after suffering from critical injuries while snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef on October 25, 2022. Police treated the man's death as 'non-suspicious', and said that the death was entirely an 'accident' in its truest sense.
The man's body was located by the police authorities at Saxon Reef, which is a patch reef on the Outer Barrier Reef and is located 55 km northeast of Carins, Australia.
4. Woman slips to death at Half Dome
What
The renowned trek to the top of Half Dome,Yosemite, US, is also infamous for being one of the most dangerous trekking spots.
In September 2019, a woman met her end when she fell down a 500-feet shallow steep, while climbing down the summit of Half Dome.
The woman was part of a four-member group who were trekking to the top of Half Dome. According to the other members of the group, she turned back midway, leaving her group, with the other three continuing on their way up.
Ultimately, when she was crossing the steepest part of the route, she plunged to her death.
5. Indian couple falls to death at Yosemite
What
On October 25, 2018, an Indian travel blogger couple Vishnu Vishwanath and Meenakshi Moorthy, met with a tragic accident when they fell to their death in the Yosemite National Park in California, US.
The couple fell from the Taft Point, which is a renowned tourist attraction at the National Park.The incident happened on October 25, 2018, but it took the authorities four days to ultimately rescue their bodies, on October 29. Meenakshi was captured in another couple's photo, just moments before her death.