As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls is also home to tourism. There are not only beautiful pictures taken at this foreign destination and tourist hotspot, but unfortunate events that do occur while doing so. In this case, the unfortunate event transformed into nothing short of a miracle.
According to a tourism official, a Chinese tourist fell into a gorge at the largest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls, while attempting to capture memories of his trip with his camera. On Wednesday, November 27, 2013, Wang Shun Xue plunged into the shallow part of the gorge and thankfully survived, with “only minor injuries,” as stated by John Zulu, manager of the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Livingstone. “He looked shocked because of the accident,” he said.
There have been numerous injuries and near-death occurrences for tourists visiting Victoria Falls. In 2012, Erin Langworthy, a 22-year-old Australian bungee jumper, was taking a plunge off the Victoria Falls Bridge. She broke free from her cord and ended up in the Zambezi River, which was infested with crocodiles. “It went black straight away and I felt like I had been slapped all over,” she said. Langworthy was stranded in the water with her feet still tied together by the bungee cord, yet only suffered minor injuries. She was not the only one who had a near-death experience.
As Xue moved close to the ledge, he lost his footing, and fell on a rock, suffering bruises on his arm. “The depth of the gorge is 25 metres (82 feet), but where he fell from, it’s about 15 metres (49 feet) because some places there are slopes,” Zulu explained. Yet, Victoria Falls, which is located on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe, plunges 108 metres (354 feet) at its deepest point to sharp rocks below. The plunge could have easily been fatal, but Xue miraculously escaped almost unscathed. He was immediately taken to a local clinic for treatment and took a plane directly out of the country.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
