~ Le Vięt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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[Year 2001]

Girl died on 'poorly equipped' expedition

AN ARMY officer leading a mountain trekking expedition in which a schoolgirl lost her life admitted yesterday that the group had been ill-equipped for such a difficult climb.

Amy Ransom, 17, slipped through a stretch of undergrowth and fell over a waterfall and into a ravine while descending the 10,000ft Fansipan, in Vietnam, in poor weather. Captain Richard Lloyd said that she “flipped backwards”, propelled by the weight of her rucksack, over his head after letting go of a tree that she had been using as a support. He told an inquest that he grabbed her poncho as she flew past, but it came away in his hand. Captain Lloyd, a soldier for 18 years, said that this was the first time he had taken a group up Vietnam’s highest mountain. “We didn’t have the right equipment for the route we were on,” he said.

Amy’s parents, whose 16-year-old son died in a car accident five years ago, said that World Challenge Expeditions should have done more to limit the risks. Derek Ransom told the inquest at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire: “These girls were put in far too much danger.”

Amy fell on to rocks at the bottom of the waterfall. A post-mortem examination showed that she died of head injuries. The coroner, Richard Hulett, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

By Helen Studd - The Times - December 11, 2001.