British skydiver dies in Thailand in parachute leap from building
A BRITISH skydiver has died after his parachute failed to deploy during a base jump from a tower block in Thailand.
On Saturday evening, Nathy Odinson, 33, was killed after a base jump from the roof of a 29-storey apartment block in the Thai resort of Pattaya.
His preparations for the leap were being filmed by a friend and showed him in the final seconds as he adjusted his equipment ready for the jump.
However, after counting down and jumping, the chute he was holding failed to deploy properly and he landed in a tree before hitting the ground.
Paramedics soon pronounced him dead and an investigation into the accident has been launched.
Local security guard Kanet Chansong, 33, who was nearby, said: “I heard the sound of the tree and I thought it was a fallen branch hitting the ground.
“A woman screamed so I walked over and realised it was a person. They were dead. I saw that they had jumped from the building.”
It is believed Mr Odinson was born in Cambridgeshire but had been living in Thailand and working at a skydiving school in Pattaya, helping customers complete tandem jumps.
Friends from the skydiving community and clients of the school took to social media to pay tribute, but Thai police said they would investigate how he came to conduct the illegal base jump in a busy area of the built-up coastal city.
Staff at the Lumpini Ville Naklua tower block said it was not the first time he had leapt from the roof. A security guard at the property said: “They were making video content for social media. They had done this before and they knew it was not allowed.”
Police Lieutenant Kamolporn Nadee, deputy inspector of investigations at the Bang Lamung district police station, said: “The parachute that the deceased used to jump malfunctioned and was not centred as expected ... The friend who recorded the video of him jumping was questioned and the video was examined as evidence.”
Police said they had informed the British Embassy in Bangkok. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Thailand.”