A 37-year-old free-flyer paraglider from Singapore has gone missing over the weekend in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district prompting authorities to launch a search operation, officials said on Monday.
Police said Li Thwang’s glider crash-landed in a forest at Dharmani hill near the remote Multhan village in Chhota Bhangal area of Baijnath sub-division in the district.
Supervisor of Special Area Development Authority (SADA), Bir-Billing, Ranvijay said the road to the take-off site in Billing was closed on Friday for maintenance but the pilot trekked alone to the hill-top and took a flight.
Some locals found the glider on a tree but there was no trace of the pilot, he said.
“Some shepherds found his glider stuck at a hill a Dharmani and informed the police,” Ranvijay said.
Baijnath’s sub-divisional Magistrate Rameshwar Das said a search operation is on to find the missing pilot.
“A rescue team sent from Bir side scoured the jungles near Multhan on Sunday but no trace was found. The search operation is continuing,” said Das.
Bir-Billing, which figures among the top-ten paragliding sites, is favourite among adventure sports enthusiasts. Hundreds of foreign and domestic tourist head to the sprawling valley for paragliding in every summer and autumn.
Bir-Billing has hosted half a dozen paragliding pre-world cup tournaments and a world cup tournament was held here for the first time in October 2015.
{{/usCountry}}Bir-Billing has hosted half a dozen paragliding pre-world cup tournaments and a world cup tournament was held here for the first time in October 2015.
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