Dubrovnik castle fall: Mystery of how an Australian woman, 26, and man, 34, fell from Pile town wall outside two ‘Game of Thrones’ castles
New details are emerging about the drunken date at Europe’s premier tourist spot that ended in an Australian couple falling 11 meters and suffering catastrophic injuries.
Dubrovnik police have confirmed that the woman, 26, and man, 34, kissed at 2:35am last Saturday morning on the old city wall of Dubrovnik’s Pile, between two of the famous ‘Games of Thrones’ filming locations of the Croatian port .
Dubrovnik is a tourist mecca in summer with spectacular weather, cheap alcohol and lively party scene. The city attracts more than a million visitors every year and was previously voted the most ‘over-touristy’ city in Europe.
The local hospital confirmed that the blood alcohol tests showed the man had a reading of 0.2 – four times the legal driving limit in Australia – while the woman had 0.3, or a whopping six times the legal driving limit.
The wall from which the The couple is said to have fallen in a popular selfie spot, which frames the two fortresses, Lovrijenac and Bokar, in the background.
The place where they fell offers a panoramic view of the Adriatic between the fortresses on the cliffs.
Dr. Ivan Benčić, a trauma specialist at Dubrovnik General Hospital, where the man is being treated for a broken leg, says the young Australian woman suffered brain damage and multiple fractures to her vertebrae in the fall.
She is in intensive care and is in an induced coma while the man is stable and recovering.
Andrijana Biskup, of the Dubrovnik-Neretva police, confirmed the couple were hugging or kissing when the fall occurred and said alcohol may have played a role.
The couple kissed and cuddled on a ledge before falling 11 meters to the ground below and the man broke his leg with the woman, 26, and suffered serious head, neck and back injuries.
The area where the couple spent a night enjoying before the tragic accident is above (left) on the coast of the Croatian port of Dubrovnik, a tourist mecca in summer, especially for Australians
The couple allegedly spent a night out in Dubrovnik’s Old Town, which is packed with tourists every summer.
The area attracts millions of visitors every year and the couple is said to have been out and about together in between the chic restaurant Nautika and the cafe and bistro restaurants Dubravka.
Australian social media posters who have been there said: ‘The walk around the wall has some very high points. It was pretty scary.’
The pair slipped and fell, reportedly as the woman leaned against her partner, and they overturned and fell to the ground below.
The couple was between the Dubravka cafe and the Nautika restaurants, which overlook the Adriatic Sea and the historic fortresses, when they slipped and fell 11 meters to the ground.
A Croatian man lamented the number of “pissed-out Aussies” drawn to his country by the lure of cheap beer, which he says costs only $1.30.
Tourists crowd the coastal area of Dubrovnik, near the wall or ledge where the couple is believed to have fallen
Ambulances were called and both were transported the two miles to Dubrovnik General Hospital, where the woman was placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit and treated by trauma surgeons.
Both were subjected to a breath test at the hospital.
The director of the hospital, Dr. Marija Bekić, told local media Dubrovacki Vjesnik that the young woman in life-threatening condition with spinal and brain damage and had broken several vertebrae and her neck.
Dr. Benčić said she was in “bad condition” due to her head injury, while the male patient was in better condition having already had surgery on his broken leg.
“We are constantly monitoring her and doing everything we can to fight for her life,” said Dr Ivan Benčić. “As for the male, he had it much better than she.”
On social media. people posted about Croatia becoming the ‘new Bali’ for Australian tourists and one Croatian man grumbled that ‘we’re getting tired of the angry Aussies. The same troublemakers every summer.
‘We should increase the price of beer, I think, still too cheap!’ When asked how much beer costs in Croatia, he replied $1.30.
Dubrovnik police have determined that the fall was an accident.
DFAT Australia said it had no further information on the couple.