Two paragliding mishaps in one day have raised questions over how safe are these adventure sports in India. In the first case, a Korean National died in Gujarat’s Mehsana district while a 30-year-old tourist from Maharashtra fell to death during paragliding in Dobhi area of Kullu district on Saturday.
Witnesses said the man from Maharashtra fell hundreds of feet possibly due to harness failure during a tandem flight. While the tourist died on the spot, the pilot of the paraglider was safe.
The victim, Suraj Sanjay Shah (30) of Shirval village, in Maharashtra’s Satara district, was visiting Manali with his friends.
Superintendent of Police, Kullu, Gurdev Sharma said on Sunday that police received information that a person had fallen from a paraglider that was flying at a very high altitude in the Dobhi area.
“The pilot is safe but the passenger (tourist) succumbed to injuries on the spot,” he said “A case of negligence act has been registered under sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC Act,” the SP said.
A number of people have either died or sustained injuries during tandem paragliding in Himachal Pradesh. Paragliding and all other adventure sports activities in the state were banned by the Himachal Pradesh High court in January this year after taking strict note of a 12-year-old boy’s death from Bengaluru due to an accident near Bir Billing paragliding site.
Korean National’s Death
The incident took place after the parachute of the victim, a Korean national, broke while paragliding, following which he crashed to the ground. The paragliding accident took place in Visatpura village of Mehsana district during an event. The crash was caught on camera.
The Korean national, Shin Byeong Moon (50), who died in the accident, was staying at his relative’s place in Gujarat’s Vadodara. In a post-crash video that has surfaced, the paraglider could be seen lying lifeless with a crowd of locals surrounding him.
The man reportedly fell 50 feet to the ground while paragliding, police said.
