An Australian woman has survived a terrifying fall after her bungee cord snapped during a 111-metre (364-feet) leap off Africa’s Victoria Falls Bridge, plunging her into the crocodile-infested Zambezi River below.
Erin Langworthy, who suffered only cuts and bruises in the fall on New Year’s Eve, said it was a “miracle” that she had survived the plunge into the rapids below the bridge, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe. “It felt like I had been slapped all over,” the 22-year-old from Perth told Australia’s Channel Nine television.
Below is the Video footage showing the accident
Lucky she had water to land in safely.
One tough Aussie Chick.
that settles it , im never going bungee jumping
Interesting! All just stood there watching and insulting God but doing NOTHING whatsoever, really hopeless! Such a beautiful lass might have gone to waste, thank God she survived!
What? You make no sense. What were the other jumpers and personnel supposed to do? Jump off the bridge? Prepare another makeshift bungee chord in seconds — if there was one — and when approaching the bottom after jumping, unlatch the chord, swim and rescue her? Or leave the bridge and race down to the river banks below — how long would that take? The operation should have had rescue crews in place on the river banks, with safety nets strung across the river to guard against crocs and someone entering the rapids. Before writing, think thoroughly.
Yeah, it always amazes me how God’s name arises (reverently or otherwise) in such circumstances. She certainly got her money’s worth!
LT its BUNGEE not BUNJEE
Zamchic, YOU NEED TO GO TO SPECSAVERS!!!! LT got it spot on, its either your eyes, or the Hash that you are puffing on!!!
These Guys should from now onwards have life boats below. The lesson has been learnt the hard way, if the flow of water was much faster, it would have been a disaster.
yes its BUNGEE rightly said by #4..i woke up to that this morning..CBS NEWS, SKY NEWS..then i thought ok its zambia..no wonder the reporting seemed as though the accident was being blamed on the host country rather than the manufacturer of the ropes..they (tourism ministry) will just have to invest in some sort of suspended safety net to keep the bungee suicidos coming..
Dr Doom The Western World specialises in portraying Africa as a hopeless case. They always look for NEGATIVE stories that satisfy their stereotypes about Africa. Zambia just removed a ruling party peacefully…. was this story headlines or on the front pages of European newspapers? No. Wait until Mugabe’s boys kill one white person and that makes headlines allover the World media which is dominated by Western journalists and businessmen. The reporting seeks to blame Zambia because First World Citizens have to be warned of the risky Third World’s ventures. I have heard of bungee jumping accidents in Australia and Europe but they were never extensively covered
KWANGALA KWABUPUBA!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok this was indded a bad accident and a dent our tourist attraction .
Instaed of Mr Lubinda just saying that the equipment is safe, I would recommend they set up a commission of inquiry on why the cable snapped. When last was the cable inspected to be sound. Saying it worked fine for 10 years will do little to bring back people. Aslo the commission needs to find out why there were no contigent plans in case the accisent happened because from the clip the operators seem to have no clue what to do in an emmergency but just sit there and insult. This is unacceptable.
Also the operator need to build a safety below and also setup a recue clue before they can be allowed to operate again. If they fail , re-tender the licence to a credible operator who knows things sometimes fail.
THIS IS SHAMEFUL. EVEN THE ROPE COULD BE SEEN THAT IT WAS USED UP. I SAW IT ON EL-JAZEERA AND BBC.
Just wondering, are there crocks there?
Nothing in life is safe and gauaranteed , accidents can happen and the key is to always have an evaucuation plan or an emergency exit plan. Nothing is 100 % safe and gauaranted , we just need to always be ready on what we shall do next should what we think fail.
In fact I would recommend they revoke the licence of whoever operates it and put it on open tender and give it to somebody who will prove that even if a cable snaps life will not be lost.
People don’t bungee Jump to see if the cable did not snap. People bunjee jump for the thrill of the experience and that should gauarantee life safety even if things go wrong.
Things sometimes go wrong , just like MMD in 2011 elections. Key is to make sure there is safety when things go wrong.
Thanks for that experiment,now one thing is clear i will never jump on that trap.
But why didnt the crocs take a few pieces of her thigh for dinner hehehehehehe…… hey thank God u a okay, Welcome to Zambia the Real Africa!
I WOULDN’T TOY WITH MY LIFE LIKE THAT, NOT EVEN WHEN A MILLION BUCKS IS AT STAKE, WHAT MORE ON A WEATHER BEATEN ROPE!!! SHE IS LUCKY AND SHOULD STRAIGHT AWAY SUE THE OPERATORS FOR CLAIMING THAT THE WHOLE NONSENSE IS FAIL SAFE, I JUST PRAY THAT OUR TOURISM SECTOR IS NOT DENTED INTERNATIONALLY
A lawsuit in Zambia? All of you must be joking. Accidental or wrongful death in most countries is tough luck and nothing more. If you want to sue get injured in America and not in Europe, Africa, Asia or South America where compensation for risk doesn’t exist.
This video has been shown on all the news channel in Britain but don’t worry whites don’t get scared of such things actualy now it will be busy than ever. Also with few Zambians who want to commit suicide.
echo ntinina ine!
wat did she xpect in zambia?friendly,yes the crocs were very friendly,waters,more than friendly.the rope though wasnt that happy with her.generally Zambia is very friendly country…
Yaku how can a rope snap surely something is wrong here im sure no maintenance is done on the same and the cable must have been exhausted. Anyway she should have died so that a commission of enquiry is set to investigate the matter.
yayayayaya i like it some1 said Zed the real africa kekekekeke she so unlucky to survive and thats an experience of a life time she should do it again and the cable should snap.
Good thing she survived but I would recomend the Ministry gets tough with safety at the falls.We were there in Dec and as much as restrictions are there e.g waddling in the devil’s pool some Australian came to us boasting that she and her partner went to the illegal side of the pool because it was cheaper apparently!!! The officers need to get rid of those un licenced operators too.
Oh my ! Thank God she survived.Now i see why my girlfriend was right when she convinced me not to try a Jump at that bridge.Now i understand why chief Mukuni….
I would rather go sky diving
Unfortunate indeed but also a reason lets quickly improve on safety I expected at least a speed boat to be there ready for any eventuality, not where it takes an hour to rescues someone!
How many people have died(God forbid) in that dangerous motor racing and yet the sport still thrivez?! Just assure the public of improved safety in future. If and when I vizit Livingstone, that’s one thing I’ll make sure I do – “Bungee Jumping”
Ala bane Bungee jumping teisuma, That’s why ba Chief Mukuni balilekako pweeeeeeee
lol……….
I wish we go have one in Nigeria, did you see CHI-NEE-KEE wonders shall never end
If the river is infested with crocs, then where were they? Anyway I am offering her marriage for being so brave even to swim. Some would have drowned out of fear. The point has very strong current. You can imagine all those millions of litres falling come to concentrate at point with serious spinning and rapids. God is great! Allah be praised!
Don’t toy about with life, it’s God-given and precious. It is very unwise to engage in some of these dangerous stunts just for the sake of making a name. Erin Langworthy, it’s not worth it. Remember, Once beaten twice shy!
you are very lucky our crocodiles were fasting
There is always that 1% chance of it snapping….lucky the crocs down river didn’t take notice of her as the don’t like McDonald contaminated meat they prefer Africa bush meat!!!
Shame poor girl, may the lord be with you. It’s really sad that, the so called safety officers could not do anything when the young Girl was being drifted down stream. what the hell was the other guy doing? Seems that these people have no safety procedures.
They should close them down like Zambezi Airlines. It is a serious dent for Zambian Tourism especially that it is all over all main TV channels. Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, TV24???
Get well soon Young girl.
When I, Robert saw the video; I sure was glad that she survived the plunge into the river. I can only speculate what was going through her mind when the bunge cord broke, and it had to really be a very scary experience. She is very lucky that she is alive to talk about it. If she would have did the jump over land, she wouldn’t be around anymore.
Ba LT mulepractisako journalism yenu bwino. This incident took place one week ago so you cant start your story with “An Australian woman has survived a terrifying fall after her bungee cord snapped …..”
This gives the impression it has just happened now or yesterday and you are now breaking it to us. You already told us of the incident so now you need to follow up so your intro should be about the latest developments not those of last week.
:((
I wonder if there is any safety inspection on those cords? how come there are no people on the ground for such eventualities. Are you kidding me? The company operating the bungee must be sued for criminal negligence.
None of these guys could swim to her rescue, yet they took her money and left her there to fight for her own life among the world’s most dangerous Crocs.
Where was the health and safety officer!
That sad!
@32 Tafimbwa Lubilo
This may have happened a week ago BUT the global mainstream media have just got hold of it this week, papers and stations are reporting that it happened near Victoria Falls and uncle Bob’s Zimbabwe is being mentioned (thankfully).
Don’t blame LT they just compile news from other media sources they never report it as it would be full of grammar and spelling errors.
You are all COWARDS on this blogstory. BUNGEE JUMPING is a very SAFE sport. This is the first incident since the sport was installed in the early 1990s. Africans you fear death so much – that is why if it wasn’t for brave Europeans to bring light to you and expose you to the rest of the world you would still be roaming the bushes naked and killing elephants using bow-and-arrow…
I only wish that was Mushota jumping with ACCA,CIMA, MASTER and now doing her PhD nelow the zambezi…….lol
Government,plse Close that company bungee jumping;
1.Commission of enquiry immidiately
2.Charge the company
3.Suspend their licence
4.I will neva tyr bungee jumping
5.what was G.lubinda trying to prove to us bytrying the B.J.
6.has he been bribed as well?
Ignorance at its best!! Crocs & Hippos know best as to keep away from rapids & fast flowing currents. The bridge is just a few hundred metres downstream the mighty Vic falls – there are no crocs living down there. Luck was on her side, as this being the rainy season, water levels were high & thank good she survived to tell the tale. She is not the first bungee accident, in fact others I know of, haven’t been lucky to have been positioned over a body of water (in this case, actually a PLUS!!) they were over solid ground, so you can just imagine the outcome – fatal!
honeslty there were just there watching her they couldnt do anything awe musebanyo.as one has already small boats.thank God shes alive saved us from embarassment
#37 Iwe J J Ali chabe bwino Tafimbwa Lubilo. The story was broken a long time ago and the angle of the Australian surviving the snapped cord was covered. According to the inverted pyramid style in Reporting today’s story should have other 5Ws to put on top. It doesn’t matter whether L Times pinch stories from other media they must be aware of what they have already covered. They must have a copy editor who tweaks the story to UPDATE it
This girl should have come to my 2nd home in Livingstone for some treatment and speedy recovery. Is she in that Oz soap Neighbours????
AMA crocodile Ramadan nimu dezemba yena ka?? Ema real Talibani yalepusa ichimishimishi
It was just an accident. Challenger 1986, Chennobyl, Titanic, collapsed bridges and the recent NASCAR accident in the USA etc. When an accident occurs, lets be reminded that we are just passing through this life. For whatever reasons, God allowed for this young lady to survive. Others have not been so luck in other dangerous games, but this is the first time it has happened at Vic Falls Bridge. Lets not make issues over something no one probably had any control of. As to crocodiles and hipppos, they do not venture where there are human activities because they understand humans are the supreme predator. Lets just take it to God in prayer that the outcome was for the good. Moreover, minister Lubinda went on to jump over the same bridge a few days after the accident.
It was the villain Robert Mugabe that saved her!
It was not her right time to die, because even a drop of water from a stroll or a glass can kill someone but she survived to tell a story and testify God’s greatness. I really thank God for her saved life.
Breaking News!! The Honourable Minister of Tourism Given Lubinda jumped off the same bridge to prove that it still safe, after all they say actions speak louder than words….bravo bwana minister, I hope your video will also garner as much publicity as the white chick’s!!
Na mphumvya zojumpha-jumpha ng’oondooooo. I will never do bungee jumping. Neo yayi.
Jay Jay#37 here is how a professional newspaper in SA has carried the same story: You can see they lead with latter developments:
Bungee survivor out of hospital
The CItizen
09 January 2012 | YADHANA JADOO
JOHANNESBURG – The miraculous survivor of a bungled bungee jumping incident at the Victoria Falls Bridge has been released from a South African hospital.
“We are pleased to advise that she has now been released from hospital, although she remains bruised and sore she will shortly be free to return home to Australia,” Victoria Falls Bungee spokesman Sonja Clay told The Citizen.
And more updates in keeping with journalistic expertise:
SA team to investigate failed bungee jump at Vic Falls
.10 January 2012 | YADHANA JADOO
A South African team of experts are expected to arrive at Victoria Falls today, to help investigate a failed bungee jump that led to an Australian tourist plummeting head first into the Zambezi River.
The inspection team would assist in procedures of the investigation, Shearwater Adventures chairman Mike Davis said.
“We don’t know how long it will take, we will be guided by them upon (their) arrival,” he said.
Further information will be provided thereafter.
Erin Langworthy, 22, plunged 111m into the Zambezi River at 5.30pm on New Year’s Eve.
Her bungee cord snapped halfway through the jump.
im just glad u ohhk hey,despite all u should really be greatfull nd thankfull to God for u lived.
:o[-(sorry
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