England Base jumper crash lands on roof of carpark
SIBU: A Base jumper from England Ben Dingold, 23 was injured yesterday morning in the final day of the Sibu International Base Jump 2017 held at Sibu town square phase 1 after a Base jumper each from Australia and Canada had suffered similar injuries.
Ben suffered injuries on his right hand when experiencing technical problem on his parachute upon his descent from the peak of the State’s tallest building,Wisma Sanyan.
According to a witness at the scene, Ben’s parachute did not open up properly causing him to lose control of his chute before landing on the roof of a carpark in the town square.
However, Ben was successfully brought down from the rooftop of the carpark with the assistance of the fire brigade personnel and other Base jumpers who happened to be around at that area.
He was subsequently rushed to the Sibu hospital for further medical treatment.
President of Australia BASE Jump Association Gary Cunningham said the incident occurred at about 11am while other Base jumpers were doing their act as usual.
He said he felt a bit of uneasiness because this was the third incident since the event commenced three days ago.
“Several factors could cause these incidents like parachute’s technical problem, strength of preparedness prior to carrying out the Base jump, mental and physical strength,” he pointed out.
As such Gary refuted wind factor as the main cause of such incidents in this event.
The first incident happened on Thursday during the trial jumps when Australian Gary Favre smashed through the glass window on Level 15 of the 126m Wisma Sanyan, sustaining minor cuts on his legs including one that required stitches.
The second incident involved jumper Braden Dean, 31, from Canada who suffered minor injury on the back after a hard landing on the open space of Sibu town square phase 1 on Saturday.
This year, the ninth edition of Sibu International BASE Jump which coincided with Visit Sibu Year 2017 saw a participation of 84 jumpers from 17 other countries, including from Malaysia.
The jumpers came from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Holland, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy , the US and Malaysia.
The event was organised by the Sibu Division Tourism Task Group led by Sibu Division Resident Hii Chang Kee.