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AUSTRALIA

Swede tells of friend’s Africa bungee terror

A Swedish woman who filmed a terrifying video of her Australian friend's bungee-jump gone wrong in Africa was certain that she was witnessing her friend's death.

Rebecka Larker-Jonsson, 20, had just done the 111 metre jump from the bridge over Victoria Falls between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Next up was the Swede's 22-year-old Australian friend, Erin Langworthy, who, before taking the plunge, asked Larker-Jonsson to film the jump.

However Langworthy's leap didn't go as planned.

The Swede's video footage shows the bungee cord snapping mid-jump, leaving Langworthy hurtling toward the crocodile infested waters of the Zambezi river below, before being pulled directly into the rushing rapids.

“I thought I had seen my best friend from the trip die. It was absolutely terrible,” Larker-Jonsson told the Expressen newspaper.

“I completely flipped out – it was horrifying.”

Larker-Jonsson told the newspaper how she had to navigate her way across barb-wired fences and long flights of stairs to get down to her friend, who had managed to swim to the shoreline despite having her feet tied together.

“It was a huge relief to see that she was breathing and talking,” she said.

Langworthy’s injuries were minor, with no broken bones – but extensive bruising.

She described to Channel 9 News in Australia that the impact with the water felt “like being slapped all over” and that immediately after the ordeal she had coughed up water and blood.

She explained to the news channel how she struggled to keep her head above the water, and had to dive down several times to release the bungee cord as it snagged on the rocks and debris below.

Langworthy made a speedy recovery in a nearby Livingstone hospital, and has since continued with her travels.

“I think it’s definitely a miracle that I survived,” she said.

Meanwhile, the video shot by Larker-Jonsson has gone viral, being picked up by media outlets across the world.

While left shaken by the incident, the Swede nevertheless has accepted that accidents happen.

"It was bad luck; both Erin and I can see that. Things like this can happen and this time it did, unfortunately" Larker-Jonsson told Expressen.

See Larker-Jonsson's video below

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