Mallorca Balcony death fall is 3rd in 3 weeks

CHARLOTTE FARIS became the third UK tourist to be killed in a fall from a hotel balcony in Mallorca in the past three weeks.

The 23-year-old fell from a balcony at the three-star Teix Hotel in Magalluf in the early hours of Saturday morning, just hours after checking-in.

She was not “balconing” – where people jump from or between rooms via the balconies – people working at the hotel said.

Her death followed those of Benjamin Harper, 28, who died on April 20 after falling from the fifth floor of the four-star Hotel Antillas in Magaluf, and of Adam Atkinson, 20, who fell from the third floor of the Hotel Martinique on April 17.

Another British holidaymaker was injured in a fall in Palma in the early hours of Saturday and a fifth was seriously injured in a balcony fall in Lloret de Mar in early April.

The death toll in the last month is the same as the whole o last year’s when at least a dozen UK tourists fell from hotel balconies and three died. In response, the head of the UK Consulate for the Balearic Islands says British tourists need to “improve their behaviour overseas”, the BBC reported.

“There are lots of drink and drug related issues that wouldn’t happen if people were sober and perhaps a bit more relaxed,” said British Consul Paul Abrey, whose job it is to tell parents their child has been hurt or killed.

Meanwhile, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is now looking into their latest advice on balcony safety.

There is a European standard height that balconies must meet and the FCO warns that falls are not always covered by holiday insurance. By Nicole Hallett