Italian tourist plunges to his death while taking selfie with girlfriend on dream Bali vacation
A tourist plunged more than 80 feet to his death in Bali Sunday while trying to take a selfie with his girlfriend at a popular waterfall spot, according to reports.
Giancarlo Zicari, 49, and Ilaria Biagi, 25, of Italy were posing at the top of the Gajah Mas waterfalls around 11:30 a.m. when the iron railing they were leaning against suddenly collapsed, the Bali Sun reported.
The couple fell a distance equivalent to the height of an 8-story building and landed at the base of the natural tourist spot.
Giancarlo Zicari fell 82 feet to his death after he tried to take a selfie with his girlfriend at a Bali waterfall. Jam Press
Biagi survived the fall but found her boyfriend dead. Despite a suspected mild head injury and abrasions throughout her body, she managed to scramble back to the top and find help.
Local police confirmed the incident to reporters in Bali, but declined to comment on the liability of the railing that buckled under their weight.
Zicari, an engineer from Rome, and Biagi had fallen from a viewing terrace that had two wooden seats next to the metal railing intended to prevent falls.
The couple were posing Gajah Mas waterfalls when the iron railing they were leaning against suddenly collapsed. Jam Press
They were trying to take a selfie when the railing collapsed, the Bali Sun reported.
Police said Zicari’s family has refused to have an autopsy performed and are in the process of getting his body back to Italy.
The tragedy comes just weeks after a teenage tourist slipped off a treacherous cliffside path in Bali during a family vacation.
The 17-year-old from China sustained serious head and neck injuries but survived the fall.