A 22-year-old American tourist fell from a cliff in Zakynthos, Greece, while trying to take a selfie at the island’s famous Shipwreck Beach, also known as Navagio.
The young man had traveled from Athens to Zakynthos for the day during his vacation in Greece, according to Greece’s public broadcaster ERT. He wanted to visit one of the country’s most photographed landmarks and take a selfie from the viewpoint overlooking the beach.
The American tourist reportedly ignored warning and prohibition signs at the site and crossed the safety barriers near the viewpoint. He then approached the edge of the cliff to take the photo.
Moments later, he slipped and fell down the steep slope. The cliff at the location reaches around 300 meters (984 ft.), which made the incident potentially fatal.
The tourist survived after a small pine tree stopped his fall approximately ten meters (33 ft.) down the cliffside.
During the fall, his mobile phone flew from his hand but landed on a nearby rock, only a short distance away. Despite the danger, the 22-year-old stayed calm, reached the phone, and called authorities for help while hanging above the cliff.
Visitors who witnessed the incident also alerted authorities. Fourteen firefighters rushed to the site, along with members of the 17th Special Disaster Response Unit, police officers, an ambulance crew from the National Emergency Aid Centre, known as EKAB, and Civil Protection teams from the Municipality and Regional Authority of Zakynthos.
The incident has renewed concerns over risky tourist behavior at high-risk viewpoints in Greece, particularly at Navagio, where authorities have placed safety warnings because of the extreme terrain and the dangers of the cliffside.
