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Yes, last photo of man who slipped and fell to death at Victoria Falls 

A photo of a man standing at the edge of a massive waterfall has been doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter in South Africa.

“The last picture of the Tourist who slipped and fell into the Victoria Falls Gorge,” its caption reads.

The Victoria Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River on the border between the southern African countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Facebook’s fact-checking system has flagged the post as possibly false. Does the photo show a tourist who slipped from the edge of the falls into the gorge below? We checked.


 

Slippery from recent rain


South African and international news reports identify the man in the photo as Roy Dikinya.

“A rescue team using inflatable boats, kayaks and ropes has finally retrieved the body of a 40-year-old Harare man who plunged to his death at Victoria Falls on New Year’s Day,” EWN reports.

“Photographs showing Roy Dikinya’s final moments have been widely shared on social media.”

CNN published a photo of Dikinya and his girlfriend Mazwi Shamu at the Victoria Falls on New Year’s Day, before his fall.

Dikinya was originally from Harare in Zimbabwe and had lived in the area for a year, so he knew it well, CNN reports. He was “a fitness instructor and the father of twin boys and two girls”.

The surface that Dikinya was walking on had been wet and slippery from recent heavy rain, so he couldn’t catch his grip, according to CNN. His body was found on 2 January.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Zimbabwe Republic Police helped retrieve his body.

This isn’t the first tragedy at the falls. EWN reports that “15 years ago on New Year’s Eve, a South African tourist slipped and died at Victoria Falls”. 

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