An engaged couple plunged more than 300ft to their deaths in Italy after the snap-hooks fastening their bungee cord to a bridge are believed to have failed, causing them to fall to the canyon floor.
Alberto Galletti, a 25-year-old paratrooper, and Tiziana Accora, a 26-year-old student, leapt together from the Ponte Canale bridge at the Polino Bungee Jumping Centre near Terni, in central Italy, roughly 60 miles north of Rome, on 1 May 2002. Instead of springing back up on the cord, they fell 330 feet to their deaths below.
Pleas to stay open
The centre was preparing to close early for the May Day bank holiday when the couple contacted manager Lorenzo Illuminati and pleaded with him to stay open a little longer so they could jump together.
Illuminati told state television: "I had actually closed when they called. They begged me to stay open so I waited for them. They jumped off together in each other's arms and then this happened. It's terrible."
Investigation into the accident
As was standard practice, their deaths were captured on camera. The bungee jumping centre routinely filmed customers' jumps so they could keep them as keepsakes.
Terni police spokesman, Lt Rovaldi Di Marco, said at the time: "At the moment the investigation is focusing on the safety harness that was being worn by the couple and the clips that secure it to the bridge."
Di Marco added: "The cord was found intact and before the couple a man of 90kg jumped off the bridge. I understand that Alberto was a serving paratrooper with a regiment based in Siena and so had done this before but we think it was Tiziana's first time at bungee jumping. The elastic cord did not break but we think the safety harness it was attached to came out of the bridge."
The officer was questioned as to whether the cord had sufficient strength to support two people jumping simultaneously. He responded: "From what I know, it should have been able to cope with a combined weight of 2,000kg so, in theory, it should have been okay. However, that is one aspect we will be looking at as well as the safety clips that are harnessed into the structure of the bridge or maybe it was a human error - it is still too early to say."
The deaths were reportedly the first fatalities to have taken place at the site. The site was closed off while officers conducted a comprehensive investigation into the deaths of the pair.
