Terrifying blunder before teenager girl plummeted to her death on bungee jump

17-year-old Vera Mol unknowingly lept to her death off a bridge while holidaying in Spain. The tragedy came about after two words from the bungee instructor said in “poor English”

A teenage girl fell to her death in a horrifying bungee jump tragedy after the instructor’s “poor English” led her to make the leap before her safety cord was successfully attached.

The extreme sport sees thrill-seekers leap head-first from a tall structure, such as a bridge, a crane, or tower, while – crucially – being securely attached to a long, highly elastic cord.

It’s a popular activity which allows people to experience the sensation of free-falling, before the cord stretches and absorbs the momentum, then bounces them back up to the top.

For Vera Mol though, her adventure would end in devastating tragedy. In August 2015, Vera, who was just 17 at the time of her death, jumped from a bridge following confusion over the bungee instructor’s commands. Her safety rope hadn’t been properly attached though, leading to her fatal fall.

The young woman, from the Netherlands, had been with a group of 13 fellow Dutch and Belgian teenagers all embarking on bungee jumping in Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria, Spain.

Vera had watched her peers jump with success – she was planned to be the penultimate person in her group to make the leap. But, when the instructor told her “no jump”, a court heard she may have misheard as “now jump”.

Vera stepped off the edge of the bridge and plummeted around 32 metres to her death, landing on the riverbed below.

After the tragedy, the case was investigated for negligence by the Spanish courts.

The courts ruled that had the instructor used a different phrase, for example the clearer instruction “don’t jump”, alongside stricter safety checks, Vera’s death could have been prevented.

The instructor’s confusing language was a key component Vera’s jump proving fatal, and judges described the instructor’s English as “macarronico”, which translates to “very bad”.

The instructor’s command of English was said to be not sufficiently competent for him to be supervising foreigners in “something as delicate as jumping into the void from an elevated point”.

The instructor appeared in court accused of causing Vera’s death.

Meanwhile, the director of the bungee jumping company also faced prosecution for negligent homicide, according to reports at the time.

Flowtrack, the company which operates the bungee jumping service and employed the worker involved, branded it an accident.

But Martijn Klom from the firm conceded Vera’s death was due to a misunderstanding.

He confirmed she received instructions which confused her and that she was attached to the rope when she jumped – but she hadn’t been safely secured to the bridge.

In addition to the fatal language confusion, the court was presented with a list of safety failures which led to Vera’s untimely death.

The instructor had not attached the 17-year-old to any safety line during the ascent to the bridge, leaving her standing unsecured just moments before she made her fatal jump.

The judges were also told the adventure company failed to provide a safe waiting area for the group, forcing teenagers to stand at what was described as “the edge of the abyss” as they waited for their turn to jump.

The staff were also criticised for failing to check Vera’s ID to confirm she was over 18. Being only 17, she was legally too young to participate and the company failed to seek permission from her parents before allowing her onto the bridge.

Vera’s devastated family went on to call for stricter safety regulations to prevent another young life being lost in such a senseless and avoidable tragedy.

Vera’s death echoes the more recent case of Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas who, in chilling footage, can be seen being carried by instructors to the edge of an abandoned bridge in São Paulo state, Brazil, before falling to her death 130 feet below.

Instructors had failed to attach a rope to Maria before helping her jump. Three men have since been arrested over the incident, which happend on Saturday, June 13 2026.