A ghostly photo shows a tourist marching to the edge of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe – just moments before he dipped more than 350 feet after his death, according to local media.
Roy George Tinashe Dikinya, 40, was with his family taking turns taking photos of the top of the large waterfall as he tumbled over the edge, witnesses told Zimbabwe’s Newsday.
“We were warned by the scream of the woman and she told us that he slipped and fell,” one told the newspaper of Dikinya, who was wearing sandals and clinging to several things in his left hand in the photo.
“Because of the downpour and the fog, we could not locate him afterwards,” the witness said.
Rescuers from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority have found body parts trapped at the bottom of the gorge, which is at least 350 feet high, the Chronicle said.
The body parts “were trapped between stones”, Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the authorities, told the newspaper.
“We could not positively identify him because of the place where the body was trapped, but we are sure it is his body,” he said.
“Right now, we are in communication with other security experts, including the military, to find ways to recover the body,” he said, with one option being to use a military helicopter.
According to The Herald, the Prime Minister, Mangaliso Ndlovu, sent his “heartfelt condolences” to the family of the tourist, who hails from the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare, more than 400 km from the waterfall.
“This is a rare, tragic and unfortunate incident witnessed at the mighty Victoria Falls,” Ndlovu said, promising that “all necessary precautions will be taken to protect against the recurrence of such an unfortunate incident.” “
This is just the latest tragedy about people taking pictures of dangerous places. Just a few weeks ago, a Brazilian man died after taking a selfie from a waterfall.