Dutch Teenager Bungee Jumps Without Rope

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A 17-year-old Dutch girl bungee-jumped to her death because of her instructor’s poor command of the English language, a Spanish court has ruled.

Dutch national Vera Mol, who bungee jumped from a road bridge before her rope had been secured, acted on instructions she misheard from her instructor, taking his “no jump” command to mean “now jump.”

The poor English of her Spanish instructor contributed to her death, the court has ruled.

Sputnik reports:

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The incident partly occurred due to the bungee-jumping instructor’s poor English, media reported.

The instructor said ‘no jump,’ but the girl misheard the phrase as ‘now jump’ and jumped from a bridge before her rope was attached, a judge said.

Now, the instructor and the company that organized the trip are facing prosecution over homicide through negligence.

The company’s appeal filed last year said that the teenager jumped before the instructor allowed her to.

However, the appeal judge ruled that the instructor’s poor knowledge of English was one of the factors that contributed to the girl’s death.

According to the judge, his level of English was not sufficient for the job that includes “something as delicate as jumping into the void from an elevated point”. If the instructor spoke the language correctly, the misunderstanding would not occur and such drastic consequences could have been avoided.