Now, Australian paraglider killed in Himachal
TWO FOREIGNERS HAVE DIED IN SIMILAR MISHAPS IN ONE WEEK AND 3 PARAGLIDERS ALSO HAD ACCIDENTS
DHARAMSHALA: In yet another mishap, the 50-year-old Australian paraglider of Indian origin died in a crash at Joginder Nagar area of Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
The deceased identified as Sanjay KR Devarkonda was born in Pune.
Mandi DSP Hitesh Lakhanpal said Devarkonda went missing after he took off from Bir Billing paragliding site on Wednesday afternoon. A rescue operation was launched and his location was traced near Joginder Nagar late on Wednesday, he said.
A 12-member rescue team was sent to the spot immediately and it took over six hours to trace his exact location, DSP said.
Devarkonda, however, had died before the rescue team could reach him.
The DSP said the pilot had crash landed in a forest after losing control and sustained fatal injuries.
His body was brought to Joginder Nagar hospital for postmortem. The officials have informed the Australian embassy about the mishap.
So far, two foreigners have died in similar mishaps in one week.
The Singaporean pilot, 53-year-old Kok-Choonk-Na, who went missing on Monday, was found dead in Big Face area. He probably lost control due to winds and crash landed on hard rocks. His body was found by the rescue team that was searching for Jose.
An ex-commando of Singapore Army, Choonk was in BirBilling to take part in Paragliding Pre-World Championship.
At least three paragliders also had accidents in the area in recent week
A Spanish pilot who was stuck in Dhauladhar range for five days was rescued on Wednesday.
Two more pilots, a Russian and a Latvian, were injured in similar mishaps last week.
Bir Billing figures among the top 10 paragliding sites in the world. The area, however, is also known as kill zone. Over half a dozen pilots have died in accidents here in past decade. In 2016, three paragliders were killed in the period of 22 days.
In the wake of recent accident, the Kangra district magistrate (DM) Sandeep Kumar has imposed a ban on free flying in Bir-Billing till a proper rescue mechanism is put in place. All the organisers have also been told to ensure compliance.
Bir-Billing valley is set to host the pre-world championship slated from October 27 to November 4. A large number of foreigners have registered for the tournament and are practicing in the valley. However, the spat of mishaps have increased the safety concerns.
The valley successfully hosted the Paragliding World Cup in 2015 without any major mishap.