Canadian BASE jumper dies after parachute fails in bridge leap

June 2007 photograph of Perrine Memorial Bridge near Twin Falls, Idaho (courtesy: Gh5046)

TWIN FALLS, Idaho - A Canadian BASE jumper has died after her parachute failed during her fifth jump off the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Coroner Gene Turley identified the woman who died Friday evening as 34-year-old Kristin Renee Czyz, of Calgary.

Twin Falls County Sheriff Tom Carter says a BASE jumping expert is examining her parachute to see what went wrong. Carter says she was relatively inexperienced at BASE jumping and had completed about 40 jumps in her lifetime.

The Times-News says witnesses in boats near the bridge pulled Czyz from the Snake River and began CPR. They met emergency responders at a nearby dock where she was pronounced dead.

The death is the first BASE jump fatality at the Perrine Bridge this year. Last spring, a 73-year-old BASE jumper died after he intentionally set his parachute on fire and leaped from the bridge.