Safety questions raised after Ontario hiker’s fatal fall from Capilano Suspension Bridge

On Saturday afternoon, a 30-year-old man from St. Catherines, Ontario, fell 60 metres near the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver and died.

The man, whose name was not disclosed in the press, fell near the end of the Cliffwalk, a narrow bridge that clings closely to the cliff.

The next day, the bridge was reopened for normal hours and safety was not considered a problem for tourists, police or staff. The accident did not worry tourists.

“Safety in our park is still very, very good – we would never compromise the safety of our guests,” said Sue Kaffka, spokeswoman for the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Officials suspect that the man did not observe the clearly marked safety precautions and put himself in danger. A witness reported CBC News that the man was trying to retrieve a dropped debit card when he slipped and fell.

Using the bridge itself, which undergoes regular safety checks, is not dangerous.

“We heard he dropped something and we hope that shows up on the tape,” said Corporal Richard DeJong The province“Reports indicate that he dropped something, couldn’t reach it, and tried to climb over it.”

The bridge may be structurally sound, but is it safe? And if signs warn of dangers, is crossing a suspension bridge safely the sole responsibility of the individual?

This weekend’s story is not the only one of its kind.

In June 2010, a 17-year-old from California climbed over the railing during a school trip and fell to his death. LSD was suspected to be the cause of the fall.

In 1999, a 17-month-old girl fell from her mother’s arms – despite side guards at shoulder height designed to prevent this – and only survived because branches cushioned her 50-meter fall.

The child’s mother, Nadia Hama, called the bridge “unstable and dangerous” and claimed that operators failed to warn her that she should not carry a child across the bridge. Hama lost custody of her daughter, who has Down syndrome, after the fall. Her case was settled out of court.

The bridge’s official website instructs parents to “hold small children by the hand and carry babies below the railing level.”

None of these horrific incidents were considered a “safety issue” – even though nature itself is not necessarily safe.

Barb McLintock of the BC Coroner’s Service blames the province’s stunning beauty for masking dangerous situations. In her experience, out-of-province visitors are the people most likely to fall to their deaths, not locals.

“Every summer we have tourists or locals come to us who suffer an unfortunate death in the wilderness of British Columbia,” McLintock said. The province.

“But what makes the landscape in British Columbia so spectacular and beautiful also makes it much more dangerous than in many other parts of the world.”

“Tourists need to understand that we are serious when we put up signs and warnings,” said McLintock The Globe and Mail.