News Education Environment Traffic Crime

Foreign tourist, local tour guide fall to their deaths on Da Lat waterfall

By Thanh Tuyet February 23, 2017 | 04:44 am PT

Part of Cop cave in Da Lat. Photo courtesy of Nhan Dan Newspaper

The pair were climbing down a rope into a cave when the tragedy occurred.

A foreign tourist and a Vietnamese tour guide have been found dead near the resort town of Da Lat in Vietnam's Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

They have been named as Rafal Cwiakala, 33, from Poland, and Nguyen Quoc Khanh, 24, from Lam Ha District, Vietnam Plus newspaper reported Thursday.

They appear to have fallen from a rope as they were climbing down the waterfall in Tho Xuan Commune.

A search and rescue team was quickly dispatched to the scene after news of the incident surfaced.

Their bodies were found around 600 meters downstream from the waterfall and have been taken to a local hospital.

An investigation is underway.

At the scene, the rope was still hanging from the top of the waterfall.

The cave, about 50 meters high, is 3 kilometers from National Highway 20.

Local authorities are taking the bodies of Cwiakala Rafal, 33, from Poland and Nguyen Quoc Khanh, 24, from Lam Dong from the scene. Photo courtesy of Nhan Dan Newspaper

Local authorities stretcher the bodies of Rafal Cwiakala and Nguyen Quoc Khanh from the scene. Photo courtesy of Nhan Dan Newspaper

A year ago, British tourists Christian Sloan, 24, Beth Anderson, 24, and Izzy Squire, 19, also died while climbing the waterfall at Datanla in Da Lat with an unauthorized tour guide. Datanla is a popular destination for adventure seekers in Da Lat.

Local authorities believe the men may have slipped, and police have arrested another tour guide.

> Peaceful Da Lat gets congested as Vietnam's Tet holiday ends