Horror as mum dies in 290ft fall from bungee jump tower in front of son

A mum plunged 290ft to her death as she took a selfie to celebrate a bungee jump she had just completed in front of her son. Mother of two, Elizaveta Gishchina, known as Liza, slipped from a platform after making a successful jump to mark her birthday.

Video shows extreme sports fan Liza, 45, laughing, shouting "Let's go!" then leaping into the air and plummeting to the ground. Footage shows her dangling from the bungee rope on completing the leap, which left her without any injuries.

She then went back up the tower in Pavlovsk, near St Petersburg, Russia, to take a selfie as a keepsake of her daredevil jump. But according to Russian media she climbed back up the structure without safety ropes, slipped and fell.

It all happened in front of her son, Nikita, 23, who went to watch his mum do the birthday bungee jump.

The rope jumping firm, 23block, which operates the facility said in a statement: "In tragic circumstances, experienced jumper and mother-of-two Liza has passed away".

It added: "Elizaveta Gushchina, along with her son Nikita, was a member of our sports team.

"Now the whole team is mourning her loss, this is a very big tragedy for us."

An investigation has been launced by the state prosecutor's office, according to The Sun newspaper.

A spokesperson from the office is reported by the same publication as saying investigators will determine whether the organisers of the attraction complied with the law.

In publicity material, the extreme sports facility said it was for people who "cannot imagine their life without adrenaline, rope jumping, flights, active recreation, freefall".

It added: "They want to share these emotions with you".