Organizers face charges over girl’s bungee death

The Guardia Civil have launched an investigation into the death outside Cabezón de la Sal in Spain’s northern region of Cantabria and two organizers of the bungee will face criminal charges over the death, the regional government confirmed.

17-year-old Vera Mol from the Netherlands was on an activity holiday when she jumped before her harness was clipped onto the bungee cord, after seemingly misunderstood the ‘no jump’ command for ‘now jump’.

The company that organized the jump is also facing possible legal action from the Spanish government for using a road bridge for an activity expressly prohibited by highway authorities.

The jump was organized by Aqua 21, a Cantabria based sports tour operator subcontracted by Belgian adventure holiday firm FlowTrack.

Mol was among a group of young holidays on a week-long adventure holiday staying at a campsite in nearby Oyambre.

“Vera Mol era muy buena estudiante, una chica con mucho talento y muy sociable” http://t.co/xNzBHB0PcW pic.twitter.com/EErb9X9PPL

— eldiariomontanes.es (@dmontanes) August 14, 2015

Friends described her as “a good student, a girl with a lot of talent and very social”.

She was the last of 13 Dutch and Belgian teenagers to take her turn at the bungee jump when she plummeted to her death.

Her death, which comes less than a month after 23-year-old Londoner, Kleyo de Abreu died during a bungee jump in southern Spain, has raised concerns over the lack of regulations governing the extreme sport.

“There is a lack of uniform regulation across the regions governing the activity,” warned Santiago Lirola Bollo, head of Seguro de Turismo Activo in Spanish newspaper ABC.

“In fact, similar activities like paragliding are more controlled.”