Russian authorities investigate Dagestan canyon jump after tourist allegedly forced over 79-metre drop

Russian authorities are investigating a tourist attraction in the mountainous Dagestan region after video appeared to show staff forcing a woman into a 260-foot (79-metre) plunge despite her repeated requests not to jump.

The incident took place at the Noh'o tourist hub on the Sulak River, a major river in the North Caucasus region of Russia, where visitors can take a pendulum-style canyon jump using a seated harness.

The Russian Investigative Committee is investigating the incident as well as other reports involving women who allegedly felt pressured to go over the edge, according to reports.

Footage shows repeated pleas to stop

The footage shows the woman in a harness near the edge of the canyon as instructors hold her in position.

“Please don’t throw me like that! No, don’t!” she is heard saying.

She then repeatedly asks the staff to release her.

“No! No! Let me go, let me go! No!” she says.

The woman also appeals to her husband, identified in reports as Yegor.

“Please, Yegor! Don’t! I’m begging you!” she says.

The instructors told her to “calm down” and not to “jerk around” as she struggled to avoid being positioned at the edge.

When she did not sit at the edge as instructed, staff members were seen kicking the backs of her legs, apparently forcing them to give way so she could be positioned for the jump.

The Daily Mail quoted an account saying that staff “dragged her to the edge, kicked her leg and sent her plunging down”.

The woman is then seen being swung away from the platform and into the canyon.

“I’m scared,” she says.

She continues: “Let me go, let me go! No, no, no! Let me go!”

Woman survives the plunge

The woman survived the jump and was subsequently lifted back to the platform above the river.

One report said she silently walked away after the jump. Footage also shows her back on the platform, where a staff member asks whether she wants to repeat the experience.

“One more time?” the staff member asks.

She replies: “No, no, no! I said ‘no’! Give me your hand! I’m scared... Let me go, let me go! No, no, no!”

The Daily Mail reported that Yegor filmed his wife during the incident and appeared to laugh. The New York Post also said her husband appeared to be filming the ordeal.

Separate footage shows another visitor taking part in the same pendulum-style canyon jump.

Other incidents being examined

The Russian Investigative Committee is also looking into other reported incidents involving the attraction.

According to reports, a 41-year-old tourist from Moscow identified as Anastasia previously said she was forced by staff to jump against her will. Reports said she was later diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion.

Another tourist, identified as Sonya, reportedly suffered a sprain after a rope became wrapped around her leg. She said instructors had not properly briefed her before the jump and later blamed her for performing it incorrectly.

Reports said the attraction had passed local safety inspections despite the complaints.

The investigation is examining whether appropriate safety procedures were followed and whether the staff's actions constituted coercion or negligence. Authorities have not announced any charges.

Previous fatality at adventure attraction

The case has also been compared with a fatal incident at an extreme-sports attraction in Brazil earlier this year.

The New York Post reported that Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was thrown from a 130-foot (40-metre) cliff without a rope attached.

Three instructors were charged with homicide after footage appeared to show them lifting her above their heads and throwing her from the cliff. The footage then showed the unattached rope remaining at the top of the cliff.

The investigation in Dagestan remains ongoing as authorities examine the footage and other evidence relating to the incident and previous complaints at the attraction.