A model died after she was hired to promote a parasailing company – she is believed to have fallen 50 metres to her death after undoing her safety harnesses during a panic attack
The grim moment a teen model plunged to her death was caught in chilling footage. Images show Tijana Radonjic, 19, during filming for a promotional video for a parasailing firm falling after she appeared to unfasten her harness during a panic attack.
Tijana, from Novi Sad in Serbia, was hired for the short film on May 28. She had no previous experience of parasailing.
The unnamed firm in Budva, Montenegro, hoped the film would boost business with tourists ahead of a busy summer holiday season. Tijana was supposed to appear clad in a bikini and flying happily over the Budva Riviera, all while her parasail was towed by a speedboat.
In the startling footage, the model appears to undergo a panic attack, depsite looking calm and happy as she was strapped into her harness and told how to use it, witnesses said. At 150 feet above the Adriatic sea, Tijana started to tear at her life jacket and safety harness, unfastening it. After undoing her waist belt, she started to try and wriggle free.
Witnesses on the beach said they heard her screaming “put me down, put me down” just moments before she fell around 50 metres.
The fall is believed to have killed her, paramedics said after she was pulled from the sea. Mirko Krdzic, the owner of the parasailing company, said he was “sorry” for the death of Tijana and hopes to meet her parents to “express my condolences in person”.
He said: “We are all in shock after the accident that happened… I do not know exactly what happened.
“She did not show any fear of flying, she underwent training, after which the tragedy followed. Technical inspections of all the equipment are underway, and the results of the autopsy are awaited.”
Tijana’s family is disputing claims she caused her own death, reports say. One relative said in a post on social media: “You were brave to try to save your young life, but unfortunately, you didn’t succeed.” The incident is being investigated by police and safety officials.
Budva is known for its popularity with tourists and bustling nightlife within its Venetian-built stone walls. Montenegro’s tourist board says it is a “metropolis of Montenegrin tourism and one of the loudest and most packed towns at the Montenegrin coast during the summer”.
It compares the town to having its “own Hawaii”, a reference to the island opposite the city that has plush beaches and restaurants.