Thaindian News

London, Aug 19 (IANS) A couple in Britian killed themselves by driving at high speed over a cliff, crashing 350 ft to their death in an apparent suicide bid.

Startled onlookers watched in dibelief as the driver of a Renault Scenic suddenly accelerated out of a car park and “gunned it” for the cliff edge.

The vehicle smashed through a barbed wire fence before plummeting over the chalk cliffs at the notorious suicide spot Culver Down, near Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight, a county and the largest island of England, Daily Express reported.

A major search operation, involving at least 40 specialists, was launched immediately after the horrific incident.

The man and woman, in their 50s and 40s respectively, are believed to have died instantly, as the car crashed on to the rocks below as daylight faded Wednesday evening.

Isle of Wight deputy coroner’s officer Dennis Adams said if anyone went over the cliffs, they had “little or no chance of surviving”.

He added: “We have had suicides over the years at Culver Cliffs.”

Post-mortem examinations were carried out after the bodies were found in daylight Thursday.

The couple were identified Friday.

An inquest at Newport Coroner’s Court opened for Paul Charles, 53, from Albert Road, Sandown, and his wife, Jacqueline, 48, from Union Road, Ryde, BBC reported Friday.

It heard they both died from multiple injuries consistent with a fall Wednesday evening.

On the Isle of Wight, Culver Down is known as the island’s equivalent of Beachy Head, another infamous 530ft suicide spot near Eastbourne in East Sussex.