Couple's Niagara Falls tourist picture hides a heartbreaking story

A couple who posed for a sweet picture at Niagara Falls didn’t know tragedy was about to strike just behind them.

As many people do, a couple posed for a photo at one of Canada’s biggest tourist hotspots. But, little did they know, the photo captured the moment just before a student slipped and fell to her death at Niagara Falls.

The picture was taken on 14 August 2011 and happened to be the same time Japanese student Ayano Tokumasu was visiting the Canadian side of the famous falls with a classmate at Toronto’s Hansa Language Centre.

20-year-old Tokumasu, dressed in red, posed for pictures which her friend was taking and got more daring as she climbed up onto the barrier, sitting with one leg on either side of the metal railing.

But, when she went to climb back to safety, CCTV footage from a nearby visitor centre showed her appearing to lose balance before falling into the water below.

Four days later, Tokumasu’s body was found on the American side of the Niagara River by staff members at a park attraction in New York state.

At the time, Niagara Parks Police Chief Doug Kane said: “We have received information from the State Parks Police confirming that the found remains from yesterday are those of the missing student that fell into the river last Sunday.”

While her family didn’t publicly comment on Tokumasu’s untimely death, Masaya Otsuka, a diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Toronto spoke about her on their behalf.

According to the Toronto Star, Otsuka said: “Of course, this is a big tragedy for the family, too. The family is receiving a big shock.”

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