TOURIST FALLS FROM WORLD’S END CLIFF-TOP

A German woman (35) had fallen from the World’s End cliff early yesterday allegedly when she tried to take a selfie at the unprotected extreme end of the cliff-top, a key tourist attraction within the Horton Plains National Park in Nuwara Eliya District.

Her body was found in the Non-perial Estate in the Samanalawewa Police area in the Ratnapura District, some 300 feet down from the cliff-top. The victim has been identified as Julia Helga of Germany. The woman had visited the top of the cliff which has a drop of about 4,000 feet, to have a view of the vast area at the foot of the cliff with another German woman and had fallen from the cliff at about 7.30 in the morning.

The victim’s friend, after the incident had informed the matter to the office of the Horton Plains National Park with the help of the other tourists who had visited the place.

Accordingly, the National Park officials together with personnel of the Pattipola police, Air Force and the 3rd Sinha Regiment of the Army launched a search operation to find the woman. The two women had arrived in Sri Lanka on November 3 and had come to Nuwara Eliya on Saturday after visiting several areas down South. They had visited World’s End yesterday with a tourist guide.

Pattipola Police and Samanalawewa Police under whose purview the Balangoda area at the foot of the cliff comes are conducting investigations. In February 2015, a 35 year Dutch honeymooner also fell from the World’s End when he tried to take a picture of his new bride at the extreme end of the cliff-top, but became the first person to survive a fall from the famous cliff as he had fallen on top of a tree about 130 feet from the top. He had been rescued by the army.