Tourist dies taking a photo at Machu Picchu
Digital Reporter
Saturday, July 2, 2016, 7:11 PM - A tourist has died at Peru's iconic Machu Picchu ruins while trying to take a photograph.
51-year-old Oliver Paps -- identified as Oliver Park in some sources -- fell 100 m into a ravine at the site. The Associated Press reports he crossed a safety barrier separating tourists from the edge of the cliff.
The Washington Post says the man had asked a nearby bystander to take a picture of him leaping into the air when he lost his footing and fell. The BBC reports the body was recovered on Thursday.
Machu Picchu is perhaps the best-known symbol of the Inca Empire. Built in the 15th Century, it was later abandoned by the Inca and remained undiscovered by Europeans until the early 20th Century.
It's highly sought-after by tourist shutterbugs, but the latest photographer's death is another in a line of tourists losing their lives at major monuments while taking pictures.
The Washington Post reports a South Korean tourist died after falling off a massive waterfall elsewhere in Peru just the day before. The man had been trying to take a selfie.
Closer to home, in March the U.S. Centres for Disease Control politely asked people to stop taking close-up pictures of the bison in Yellowstone National Park after they noticed an uptick of people being attacked by the enormous bovines.
SOURCES: Associated Press | BBC | Washington Post
