Kiwi cyclist dies after sliding off edge of 'Death Road'
A man has died after falling 100 metres down a cliff while cycling along “Death Road” in Bolivia.
The New Zealander fell to his death while riding along the dangerous stretch on Yungas Road from La Paz to Coroico on Tuesday.
Death Road was named the most dangerous in the world in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank, who estimated there were between 200 and 300 deaths a year.
The man, whose name has been released, died about 11.50am local time in wet conditions. The alarm was raised about halfway though the 69km journey when he failed to arrive at one of the checkpoints.
He was riding as part of a group led by the company Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking and owner Alistair Matthew told Yahoo News in a statement guides cycled back up the road to look for him.
“The Gravity guides went back up the road to look for him and identified where he had fallen off the road,” he said.
“The lead guide abseiled down to where he had fallen (approximately 100m below the road) and determined that he showed no signs of life.
“Authorities were immediately contacted and we are debriefing staff and participants from the group.”
Mr Matthew said the group had been “deeply shaken by this tragic accident”.
Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking was established by Mr Matthew, also a New Zealander, in 1998.
He said the company had guided more than 100,000 people down the road and the latest death was the first rider to die in a bicycle crash.
It previously had one customer die of a heart attack.
Mr Matthew said many details as to how the crash occurred were unclear.
He said the cycling company had been trying to improve safety standards for mountain bike tours in Bolivia, and the latest accident highlighted that high standards of safety and professionalism were required to minimise the possibilities of tragic accidents, but not all risks could be eliminated.
“After the accident Gravity Bolivia are undertaking extensive investigations and reviews of our systems to confirm that they are of the highest possible standard, and to look for further opportunities to improve them,” Mr Matthew said.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Yahoo News in a statement it was aware of the incident.
“MFAT is aware of the death of a New Zealander in Bolivia and is providing consular support to their partner and family,” a spokesperson said.
“Due to privacy considerations we are unable to provide any further information.”
