The identity of a foreign couple, who fell down a cliff face in onto the beach in Ericeira on Tuesday, has been revealed.
The tourists fell from a height of 30 meters when they were taking a ‘selfie.’
Michael Kearns, a 33-year-old Australian man, was on holiday with his girlfriend, Louise Benson, a 37-year-old British woman, when they plunged over the low wall above Ericeira beach in Mafra.
“Everything seems to indicate that the fall happened when they were probably trying to take a selfie,” said Rui Pereira da Terra, head of the rescue service in Cascais port.
“It seems they dropped their mobile phone and fell down while leaning over to retrieve it,” he added, offering no evidence to support this view.
The couple had left Australia in January for a trip around the world and had been to a friend's wedding in Portugal a few weeks ago.
The two bodies were found on Tuesday morning.
Jornal de Notícias, said fishermen had discovered a “horror scene” when they came across the bodies at about 6.30am.
“At first the fishermen thought the corpses, from far away, might be people sleeping on the beach,” the newspaper said. “Only when they got closer did they realise that it was a dead couple and they were shocked with what they saw.”
