Posted on 06/26/2009 8:34:04 PM PDT by Steelfish
Teenager jumps to her death from Eiffel Tower, crashing onto roof of packed restaurant 180ft below
IAN SPARKS
27th June 2009
A teenage tourist has leapt to her death from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and crashed onto the roof of a packed restaurant 180ft below.
The 18-year-old Brazilian girl jumped from a second-storey tier as her brother frantically tried to stop her.
Diners on the tower's 170ft-high first floor then heard her smash into the plastic roof of the restaurant, believed to be Altitude 95, five feet above their heads.
Altitude 95, on the first tier of the Eiffel Tower: Believed to be the restaurant which an 18-year-old crashed into after leaping to her death
A waiter said after the tragedy on Thursday afternoon: 'It was a shocking moment.
'The smashing noise was like a bomb going off as the roof cracked, then everyone there very quickly realised what had happened.
'But the most bizarre thing was, most of the customers just carried on eating. I have no idea why they did that.'
The Eiffel Tower: The Brazilian girl's brother desperately tried to stop her from jumping
Police said the girl's 25-year-old brother had frantically tried to stop her, but that she had jumped before he could reach her.
A spokesman added: 'He watched her leap over the railing and vanish.
'At this point we have no idea of what drove her to this tragic act.
'Her brother is in a state of extreme shock and has been taken to hospital for treatment.
'He was so horrified at what he saw that he could not even tell us his name.'
The victim could not be named until her family had been informed, he added.
The 980ft tower is the world's most popular attraction, visited by more than 6million tourists...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
She was experiencing non-zero acceleration for the vast majority of her fall.
LOLO ... Paris is really a wonderful city ...it’s the Parisians that make it deplorable.
Now that's a safe statement! The kind a sociology professor might make as he stands in for a physics professor.
That's because the food was so damn expensive they couldn't afford to leave it behind.
She was probably an idol worshiping fan of Michael Jackson.
These folks say otherwise:
excerpt: Over the next few days, Wal-Mart's response to Katrina -- an unrivaled $20 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers -- has turned the chain into an unexpected lifeline for much of the Southeast and earned it near-universal praise at a time when the company is struggling to burnish its image.
That’s total baloney. None of that money came to the people who needed it. I lived through katrina and went to every open walmart in the area looking for whatever I could get. I was spending several hours in line every day looking for whatever they brought in that day. Food was hard to come by at times, particularly if you didn’t get there at the right time of day. Most walmarts weren’t even open for many months because the stores were too damaged or no electricity or not enough people to work there. Why do you believe the lies of the MSM and walmart? That money earmarked for katrina relief probably all went in someone’s pockets inside the company. We didn’t see any of it down here in MS and LA.
I have no axe to grind on this issue, but perhaps there were some exceptions to that.
MSN Money
Extra4/2/2008 5:00 PM ET
Real Katrina hero? Wal-Mart, study says
Empowered to 'do the right thing,' employees gave away supplies and offered sleeping space after the 2005 hurricane.
Local knowledge allowed big-box retailers to respond before FEMA could.
Excerpt
The report calls out several examples of that principle in action:
A Kenner, La., employee used a forklift to knock open a warehouse door to get water for a retirement home.
In Marrero, La., employees allowed police officers to use the store as a headquarters and a sleeping place, as many had lost their homes.
In Waveland, Miss., assistant manager Jessica Lewis ran a bulldozer through her store to collect basics that were not water-damaged, which she then piled in the parking lot and gave away to residents. She also broke into the store's locked pharmacy to supply critical drugs to a hospital.
Though some price-gouging does occur during disasters, Horwitz's report details how Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's sent truckloads of free supplies to the hardest-hit areas in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
A convoy of Wal-Mart trucks carrying supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina waits to enter New Orleans three days after the storm hit.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHome/RealKatrinaHeroWalMartStudySays.aspx
IIRC, the ex-jumper said he jumped at night, and remarked about the rush of the wind.
No forces acting, not even gravity?
Who gives a ****?! An 18 year old girl just splattered all over a rooftop.
Extremely happy for the girl and extremely sad for the brother.
There is nothing better than receiving death but nothing worse than witnessing the death of an innocent person.
What should they have done in this situation?
"Garçon, check please."
I remember that although I can’t say if it was a Hyatt. The jumper actually struck a diner and injured her.
By choice.
But it wasn’t the fall that killed her.
It was that 250g stop.
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