Visitor hurt in plunge

BY KEITH LYNCH AND JO MCKENZIE-MCLEAN

LATEST: An Australian tourist is still in hospital in a serious, but stable condition after a bungy jump went horribly wrong.

But rescuers say it is a miracle the 39-year-old woman survived the 35 metre fall.

Thousands of people visit the site near Hanmer Springs every year in search of an adrenaline buzz and the company says it has never had a safety incident before.

Paramedic Dean Brown told ONE News the woman had just done her bungy jump and was going back up for the second time when the bungy appeared to come loose and she plummeted into the river.

The woman was picked out of the water by the support boat and taken to the bank of the river.

"She sustained chest and arm injuries to her left side which took the brunt of the impact into the river...it sounds like she hit a rock under the water as well...she's very lucky to be alive from the height she fell," says Brown.

Blair Hartland from Thrillseekers Adventures says they are really upset and disappointed about the accident.

The victim is recovering in Christchurch Hospital. Her husband has said neither of them are up to talking to the media but that she is in a stable condition.

Meanwhile all bungy operations at the site have been suspended while the Department of Labour investigatesA Sydney woman is recovering in Christchurch Hospital after she slipped from a bungy cord near Hanmer Springs.

Bungy jumping at the Thrillseekers Adventures site over the Waiau River on the road into the alpine resort was shut down after the woman fell from her cord into the water about noon yesterday.

Westpac rescue helicopter spokesman Stuart Farquhar said: "She was doing a bungy jump and, on the second bounce, her shoe became dislodged and, as she came down, she slipped through the bungy and fell into the water."

Farquhar said he understood Thrillseekers used a boat to take the woman to an island in the river.

"That's where we landed, and the paramedics worked on her and took her to Christchurch Hospital."

The woman had "reasonably serious but stable injuries". Her partner had accompanied her to hospital.

Bungy jumping at the site involves a 35-metre drop from the Waiau Ferry Bridge.

A woman who witnessed the accident said last night that she was too shaken to talk about what happened.

Department of Labour inspectors were at the scene late yesterday.

Thrillseekers Adventures spokesman Blair Hartland said he could not confirm how the accident happened, but no further jumps or adventure sports would take place until a full investigation had been undertaken.

"Until further notice, the whole operation is shut down," he said.

"We don't know the cause or the reason it happened," Hartland said.

"This is the first time we've had an accident like this, and the staff there are very upset."

Hartland said bungy jumpers had used the Hanmer Springs site for about 20 years, and Thrillseekers had bought the operation in October last year.

"We've got a very clean history. We've got an accident-free record and obviously we're very disappointed and devastated that this has happened," Hartland said.

A Christchurch Hospital spokeswoman said last night the woman was in a stable condition.

--With NZPA and One News

- © Fairfax NZ News