Advertisement

Tourist falls to death at Trolltunga photo shoot

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Tourist falls to death at Trolltunga photo shoot
Another hiker poses on the famous Trolltunga. Photo: Thomas Frost Jensen/Flickr

An Australian student has fallen to her death while having her photo taken at Trolltunga, the spectacular rock promontory which is one of Norway's leading tourist attractions.

Advertisement

The young woman, who has been identified as 24-year-old Kristi Kafcaloudis from Yandina, Australia, was posing with a group of students from the University of Bergen (UiB) when she slipped and fell several hundred meters to her death. 

Terje Kvalvik, from Hardanger police told Norway's TV2 broadcaster, that Kafcaloudis had stepped too far to the right when it was her turn to go onto the promontory be photographed, and  then tumbled off the side. 

"Many people wanted to step out to be photographed, and there was a queue. When it was her turn, she stepped over some rocks at the rock face. But she walked too far to the right and fell,"  Kvalvik said. 

The officer told Bergens Tidende that Kafcaloudis had hiked up to the rock with two friends, and then met a larger group from the university on the way. 

The Australian had moved to Bergen on 10 August to begin studying musicology and cultural studies.

Dag Rune Olsen, UiB's rector said that Kafcaloudis's death was tragic. 

"We are terribly sorry about the tragic outcome of this accident. My thoughts are with the family, the parents and close relatives of the student," he told Norway's state broadcaster NRK.   

"We are committed to taking care of the other students who were on the trip, and those who knew her. We will try to bring some clarity into what happened and to offer them to see a psychologist through UiB."

Olsen said that the accident underlined the importance of educating international students of the potential dangers in Norwegian nature.

"Many of our students come here because they like being in nature, and they then travel within Norway. We think that's good, but there are also risks. Maybe we need to inform our students of these risks to a greater extent than before."
 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also