A teenage female tourist plunged to her death from a cliff swing facility in Sichuan Province, China, sparking outrage after video footage showed a safety attendant releasing the restraint despite the victim's repeated cries that "the rope wasn't properly fastened."
According to local media including Shangyou News on the 5th, the teenager fell while riding a cliff swing at a 168-meter waterfall in Maliuyan Adventure Park in Huaying City, Sichuan Province, on the 3rd during the Labor Day holiday. Huaying City authorities said the woman was transported to a hospital but ultimately died. The facility responsible for the accident was opened by Chongqing Adventure Camp on March 15 of this year. The admission fee was 398 yuan (approximately 85,000 won), with an additional insurance fee of 15 yuan (approximately 3,200 won) required. The Maliuyan tourist district has drawn crowds for its distinctive scenery featuring waterfalls, canyons, karst caves and steep cliffs, and was packed with visitors during the Labor Day holiday.
The Huaying City Emergency Management Bureau has preliminarily determined that the accident resulted from the operator's poor safety management and is conducting further investigation. The facility involved in the accident was immediately closed. Whether the operator complied with legally required safety inspection procedures is also under investigation.
In China, extreme leisure facilities such as cliff swings, bungee jumping and steel rope ladders are rapidly proliferating at tourist sites nationwide. However, critics have repeatedly pointed out that profit-driven operators remain lax in complying with safety regulations. As cliff swing facilities mushroomed, the Chinese government enacted the "Safety Technical Requirements for Cliff Swings" in March last year, mandating the installation of fall prevention devices and daily rope inspections. However, the operator responsible for this accident was found to have failed to properly observe these standards.
