E-Paper
Gujrat tourist dies in paragliding mishap in Dharamshala
A 25-year-old tourist from Ahmedabad died in a paragliding accident in Dharamshala. The flight took off from an unauthorized site, violating safety rules.
A 25-year-old tourist died in a paragliding accident while taking-off from a non-notified site at Bangotu which is above Indrunag paragliding site near Dharamshala on Sunday evening, said officials on Monday.
The deceased has been identified as Satish from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, they added. He was on a tandem flight and fell during take-off along with his pilot who also sustained injuries. Their paraglider crashed on the site. This is the second such incident in Dharamshala this year in which a tourist was killed in a paragliding mishap.
The incident occurred around 4 pm on Sunday. Police officials said that the tourist was on a trip with his cousin in Dharamshala. The injured tourist was first taken to Zonal Hospital in Dharamshala from where he was referred to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda in Kangra, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Kangra district tourism development officer Vinay Dhiman said, “The preliminary inquiry suggests that the tandem flight’s take-off was done from a site which is not notified, which is a complete violation of HP Aero-Sports Rules 2022, and the order of the high court wherein it has been mentioned that no site can be operated without a marshal. Neither this site is notified, nor was there any marshal present there. We have asked the sub-divisional regulatory authority, Dharamshala, to take cognisance of the incident. We have issued show-cause notices to both pilot and the operator and appropriate action will be taken as per the law after their response is received.”
Meanwhile, police officials also said that they are investigating the incident.
Earlier this year, a 19-year-old female tourist also died in a paragliding accident on January 19 while taking-off at the Indrunag paragliding site in Dharamshala.
