Zipline horror as woman plunges 60ft to her death in front of her nieces after slipping from her safety harness during mile-long, 60mph ride at Italian beauty spot

A woman has died after she apparently slipped from her safety harness and fell 60ft during a mile-long zipline ride over Italy's Bitto Valley.

Ghizlane Moutahir, 41, died Sunday afternoon after she fell to the ground at the Fly Emotion park in Alpi Orobie at Bema, close to Lake Como, in Italy.

She was approaching the end of the mile-long, high-wire thrill when witnesses said she began to 'struggle' and then slipped out of her harness. 

Paramedics raced to the scene but there was nothing that could be done and she was pronounced dead. Police and prosecutors have since opened an investigation into the horrific accident.

Moutahir's two nieces, who had just completed their flight on the zipline, watched their aunt take her turn on the 60mph ride and were filming when tragedy struck. Investigators are examining the footage taken by the girls.

The tragedy unfolded on Sunday as hundreds of people packed into Fly Emotion park, which opened in 2011 and is one of the top tourist attractions in the area.

The zipline suspends adventure-seekers over the valley between Albaredo and San Marco and Bema using a harness suspended from a steel cable.

Moutahir was travelling along the first section of the route, between Albaredo and Bema, and had almost reached the arrival station when she fell, according to reports by local media. 

Witnesses say she remained suspended vertically for several seconds before falling.

Initial investigation revealed that Moutahir had 'stopped' just before arriving at the end of the zipline, 'began to struggle' and then her 'feet slipped out', a police spokesman said.

'This led to her becoming unbalanced and she fell from the harness around 20 metres into the forest below and was killed instantly,' he added.

'It's also possible she had some sort of panic attack and that's what made her struggle or maybe some other medical episode but we are waiting for the post mortem results.'

Authorities will carry out checks of the safety equipment and, as a precaution, have temporarily closed the park while the investigation is carried out. 

'Video of what happened which was taken by her nieces is also being examined and the local prosecutor has opened an investigation,' the spokesman noted.

Moutahir, who was of Moroccan origin but lived in in nearby Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, was married and had no children. She had taken advantage of Sunday's warm weather and went for a day out with her extended family.

Her husband of nine years Michele, who had stayed home because he was suffering from a toothache, rushed to the park after the tragic incident. He told La Repubblica that 'I should have been there with her too'.

'I thought she had just hurt herself but now she's no longer here,' he said, before sharing his own hypothesis of the situation. 'If you look at the images it is clear what happened: she was harnessed badly, the wrong way, her legs were out and she fell.'

Matteo Sanguineti, a director of Fly Emotion, said: 'Our first thoughts are with the lady and her family. We still don't know for certain what happened and I ma shocked and incredulous.

'We are cooperating with the authorities to try and understand what happened. The zipline opened 13 years ago and in that time more than 200,000 people have used it and we have never had any incidents. I am shocked and incredulous.'

The zipline stretches over a valley and starts at Albaredo at a height of 3000ft and then ends at Bema which is at 2400ft.

On the Fly emotion website a message read: 'All activities ae temporarily suspended. We apologise for any inconvenience.'

The attraction gets top reviews on Trip Advisor and one contributor from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, wrote: 'Absolutely brilliant. Great fun. If you are in the area, you have to try this! Don't think about it - just fly.'