A cyclist has plunged to his death of the world's most dangerous road which has been dubbed 'Death Road' because of its poor surface, winding path and the steep plunges off the side.
A cyclist from New Zealand has fallen to his death off the side of Bolivia's so-called 'Death Road'. The fatality occurred on the Yungas Highway.
It runs from La Paz to Coroico and most of it is effectively a dirt track. Though people die on it every year, it remains very popular with cyclists.
A mini industry of tour groups has sprung up that specialise in bringing groups of cyclists up the climb.
Auckland physiotherapist Emile Vollenhoven was on one such tour when he plunged to his death.
Vollenhoven died just before noon local time yesterday. The dead man was backpacking through South America with his girlfriend.
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The tour company he was with, Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking Bolivia, has confirmed his death.
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"All of us at Gravity Bolivia are deeply shaken by this tragic accident and want to express our deepest condolences to his friends and family," said tour company owner Alistair Matthews.
"It had been raining, and the rain had just begun to pick up at the time, but I wouldn't say it was torrential. That would be fairly typical conditions at this time of year.
"The Gravity guides went back up the road to look for him and identified where he had fallen off the road.
"The lead guide abseiled down to where he had fallen to and determined that he showed no signs of life.
"Gravity has safely guided more than 100,000 clients down the road during this time,” Matthews added of the company’s safety record.
“While Gravity has previously had one customer die of a heart attack, this is the first rider we have had die in a bicycle accident."
The cycling tour up the road that Emile Vollenhoven was on is 64k in length with a vertical descent of 3,600 metres.
While the first third of the route is a paved road, as it climbs it becomes a single lane dirt track with a sheer drop off the side.
The victim was in a group of 12 cyclists and two guides. The alarm was raised when he failed to arrive at a designated meeting spot along the way.
One of the guides went back down the road and by abseiling off the side he found Vollenhoven’s body only a short distance down.
A woman he was with on the tour, believed to be his partner, suffered injuries to her face in a crash about 20 minutes before the fatal crash.
A spokesman for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of the death. And it was also providing consular support to the deceased's partner and family.
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