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HOLLAND

Dutch teenage girl dies during bungee jump

A 17-year-old girl from the Netherlands fell to her death during a bungee jump in Cabezón de la Sal in Spain’s northern region of Catantabria on Monday.

Dutch teenage girl dies during bungee jump
Stock photo of a bungee jumper Photo: Eron Main /creative commons / Wikimedia

The girl who was with a group of about a dozen tourists was killed after falling 40 meters ( 131 ft) from a viaduct over the Cedeja riverbed on Monday evening, the second bungee death in Spain within a month.

Her body landed in the dry riverbed and was retrieved by the emergency services on Monday night.

It was reported that the teenager was staying with a group at a campsite in nearby Oyambre and that the jump was organized by a local adventure company.

“Apparently, she was not fully secured when she jumped,” Esther Merino, a councillor from Cabezón de la Sal, a town 50 kms (31 miles) west of Santander, told AFP about the accident Monday evening.

Local Police said the circumstances of the death were as yet unclear but suggested that bungee jumping at that point may not have been authorized.

“We had no idea that bungee jumping was carried out there where it is extremely risky,” Joaquin Gonzalez, the Local Police chief told regional newspaper El Diario Montañes.

The Foreign Ministry in the Netherlands has confirmed the death of a Dutch national in Cantabria.

In July, Londoner Kleyo De Abreu, 23, was killed during a bungee jump in Lanjaron, Granada.

Two people face charges of manslaughter over her death, the owner of an adventure company that organized the jump at the Tablate bridge and the jump supervisor.

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SPORT

Germany reach semis of beach volleyball worlds

Germany's top beach volleyball pair are storming the world championships in Holland and prepare to face Brazil in the semis on Friday.

Germany reach semis of beach volleyball worlds
Ilka Semmler and Katrin Holtwick. Photo: DPA file

Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler were only ranked the fourth best German pair at the start on this tournament. Now they have risen into the top four pairs in the world, reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

A decisive 2-0 victory in the quarters over US pair Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat means the two students from Essen are now the only non-Brazilian team left in the tournament.

And it would seem the Germans have had luck in their draw. They will face Brazil's sixth best pair Taiana Lima and Fernanda Alves, ranked 31st in the world at the start of the tournament.

Semmler was clearly shocked by the quarter final victory.

“I can't believe it,” the two-time German champion told FAZ. “It was an awesome game. Semi-final – everything's going well.”

“Our game plan went perfectly, without compromise, throughout the entire match,” said trainer Tilo Backhaus.

Now they are head to The Hague trying to upset a Brazilian fiesta.

“We're not driving to The Hague to lose two matches. Of course we want a medal now,” Semmler said confidently.

The 31-year-old Holtwick reflected that “we won't compete in so many more world championships. We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could be at the top at this level of the game.”

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