A couple’s innocent selfie together captured the chilling final moments before a huge disaster.
On 20 August 2022, Andrea Mazzetto went out for a hike with his partner, Sara Bragante, to climb Altar Knotto (a rock in his hometown, Rotzo, Italy).
He had been documenting their day on social media and with such an amazing backdrop, he held out his arm to take a photo of the pair enjoying the outdoors.
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However, tragedy soon struck when the 30-year-old dropped his phone.
When the Italian attempted to retrieve it, police said Mazzetto lost his balance and ended up falling from the cliff edge. He then plummeted 200 metres down to the bottom.
A large rescue mission began as it was reported the man had injured himself with helicopters and firefighters responding to the scene.
But sadly, by the time the first responders did manage to reach him, Mazzetto had died.
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Following her partner’s death, Bragante reshared the tragic final photo of them together to her Instagram stories as she wrote (translated into English): “Our cursed last photo together. You will always be with me, my little bear.”
At first, it was believed he had been trying to get her dropped phone but it was later confirmed he had dropped his own.
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The entrepreneur and fitness lover had regularly posted snaps of the couple to his Instagram with over 2,000 followers.
Back in 2011, a Canadian couple’s photo together also captured the last moments of a fellow tourist. Over the summer, Andrea Smith and Jason Watson were visiting the Niagara Falls when they took a snap together at a viewpoint for the popular Horeshoe Falls section of the national park.
But while it looks like a touristy souvenir at first glance, it was taken just moments before disaster.
In the left-hand side of the picture, a woman dressed in red can be seen, seemingly crossing over the railing separating visitors from the drop. This was 20-year-old Ayano Tokumasu whose story went on to serve as a tragic warning for anyone considering ignoring safety regulations to get the perfect photo.
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She hopped over so her mate could get a picture of her without anyone in the background. However, when she attempted to climb back over to safety the student lost her balance, fell backwards into the water and was swept away.
Witnesses said Tokumasu appeared to be straddling the railings in order to get a better view. It took four days before her body was located and recovered from the deep waters.
Smith later told Canadian newspaper Windsor Star (via Huffpost): "It actually gave me a chill [looking at the photo]. We could have done something to save her and we didn’t."
Topics: Social Media, Viral
Jess Battison