The safety of Madeira’s Levada walking trails is being questioned as yet another tourist has died in a horrific major-distance fall.
This latest horror happened yesterday (March 16) at around 4pm in Funchal.
A German tourist, said to be in his 60s, fell from a height of 90 metres on a section of Levada do Bom Sucesso – one of the many trails that follow the island’s ancient irrigation channels through stunning yet potentially dangerous, narrow locations.
The man, who had been walking with his wife and other hikers, was dead by the time firemen reached the spot where he landed, though what caused him to fall has not been explained.
What is clear is that the safety of Madeira’s walking trails is now well and truly under discussion as a number of similar deaths have taken place in the last few years.
Last November, a 62-year-old German tourist was killed when he suffered a copy-cat fall on the same walk.
“There are too many deaths,” a commentator on Diário de Notícias’ account of the story writes. “Are these trails adequate, in terms of safety and equipment, to provide a safe hike? This has to be urgently rethought, warning signs have to be multiplied and safety barriers have to be placed in the most dangerous areas. We’re hearing about a lot of deaths in these areas, and it will start giving Madeira a negative image.”
Another reader suggested that Levada do Bom Sucesso “has a lot of dangers as it is not looked after, and in lots of areas the paths are deteriorating”.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
