A BELGIAN SCHOOLTEACHER is on trial for murdering her friend and love rival by sabotaging the woman’s parachute.

Els Clottemans, 26, is accused of murdering Els Van Doren, an experienced skydiver who fell to her death on 18 November 2006, AFP reports. Clottemans denies the charges.

Van Doren, a 38-year-old mother of two, died when her parachute failed to open. The back-up parachute also failed to deploy.

A camera fixed on her helmet videoed her death plunge. Police dismissed suicide from their investigation as Van Doren had clearly tried to save herself.

The pilot of the plane which carried the group for their skydive that day said: “Els tried to do everything to try to save herself. She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn’t open. That never happens.”

She was allegedly having an affair with a skydiving instructor with whom Clottemans was also romantically linked, according to the Independent.

The BBC reports that Clottemans, Van Doren and the man they allegedly both loved, were holding hands just moments before Van Doren discovered the strings on her parachute had been cut.

The trial opened today and is due to proceed for four weeks, and over 200 witnesses are expected to give evidence.