Russian beautician plunges 170 feet to her death climbing over barrier for clifftop selfie
A Russian beautician fell nearly 200 feet to her death when she climbed over a barrier at a popular cliff-viewing platform overlooking the Black Sea.
Inessa Polenko, 39, took in the picturesque scenery at the Gagry viewing point in Abkhazia, Georgia when she reportedly attempted to get a better view but took the fatal 170-foot tumble.
Eyewitnesses claim Polenko had stumbled after climbing over the barrier.
A gruesome video posted to social media captured the tourist’s body lying on the beach.
Paramedics had rushed to tend to the wounded beautician, but she was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, according to The Sun.
Polenko reportedly had 9,000 followers on Instagram where she shared photos of her worldly travels, which included visits to Dubai, Egypt and Russian-occupied Crimea.
She had clients mainly in Moscow and Sochi, where she lived, according to Metro.
Officials in Abkhazia, a breakaway region in Georgia that Russia claims is an independent state, have opened an investigation into Polenko’s death.
Polenko’s funeral was held in Sochi, Russia earlier this week.
In December, a tourist from Singapore visiting New York’s Hudson Valley region was taking pictures with her husband when she slipped off a cliff and fell 70 feet to her death.
Nur Aisyah Binte MD Akbar, 39, was at the edge of a cliff on the Beacon Hill Trail in Minnewaska State Park when she “lost her footing” and fell.
Her husband, Abdul Rauf Bin Mohd Said, also of Singapore, called 911, which led to multiple agencies converging on the scene.
The New York State Police aviation unit hoisted the victim up from where she landed, and she was taken to Ellenville Regional Hospital in Ulster County, where she was pronounced dead.
Last spring, an unidentified man visiting the Grand Canyon in Arizona also fell to his death.
The tourist was at the Grand Canyon Skywalk when he went over the edge and plummeted to the awaiting Colorado River below.
